Mind Rain
by missparker87
Summary: Jarod asks Miss Parker to meet him to finally get things straight between them. When they confess their love, they realize time has also come to destroy The Centre. It's the beginning of a journey that lead them to discover pieces of lost memories in a spiral mind rain. Set after IOTH. Recommended for: MPJ Shippers (of course!) - People fond of flashbacks.
1. Chapter 1: The Future Together

**DISCLAIMER**

I do not own any of the Pretender characters. But I felt free to write a fanfic about them.

First of all, I must say the idea for this fanfiction came to me during a dream. I'm re-watching The Pretender these days, and I ofter dream about tv shows, maybe because of my huge imagination. When I got up, I felt I had to put it down. This is going to be a long journey, chapter after chapter.

I wish to thank my dear and kind "Miss Parker" (Antoinette) who helped me to translate in English: I could not have done this without her!

I'm from Italy, so I hope you are forgiving my lacks in your language. Feel free to review and rate, even if you think this is terrible!

* * *

**Chapter 1: The Future Together**

**NEW HAVEN HOTEL – NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT**

**9.30 p.m.**

Jarod had never seen the hotel before, but as soon as he got in he understood he had chosen the perfect place for such an important meeting. The atmosphere was quiet and all the employees seemed disinterested with what was happening around them.

The hotel lobby somehow reminded him of The Centre, so just for a moment he felt almost trapped.

In the evenings they didn't usually have check-ins, it was an hotel accommodating mostly business travellers and conferences. That very night there was a dentists' meeting, which was taking place in the main hall, on the other side of the lobby.

Jarod breathed deeply and tried to summon his courage, then adjusted his traveling suitcase shoulder strap and headed to the reception desk.

A not more than twenty-something year old boy welcomed him with a warm smile.

"Welcome to New Haven Hotel, how may I help you, sir?"

Jarod didn't know how to answer: he had made the meeting, but now he was there he didn't know how to behave, maybe for the very first time in his life. Had his guest already arrived? Was she already there?

"Well, actually I was waiting for…"

"Oh, I got it! You must be Mr. Jarod!" the receptionist stopped him, and Jarod spied his badge noticing his name was Christopher.

"How did you know?" he asked, a bit worried. He was usually the one surprising others when they arrived at a place he just left and were recognized because he had talked about them

"Your wife is waiting in your suite. Room 327. She also told me to give you this – the boy continued and gave him the room key – She said she didn't want to take the risk that you forgot your room number"

Christopher smiled again while Jarod took his key: "My w-wife?" he asked, curious.

"Yes sir, and if I'm allowed, that is a woman who knows her stuff, it mustn't be easy to keep your eye on her."

Then Jarod smiled for the first time.

"Actually it's more difficult for her to keep an eye on me, believe me. Thank you, Christopher." he concluded and gave the boy a tip.

The elevator took him to the third floor, where he started looking for room 327. He walks slowly, even if his grave and constant gait hid an interior agony, because he was looking forward to reaching her.

Was she really waiting for him in that room?

When he arrived in front of the door with the number 327 impressed, Jarod tightened his suitcase shoulder strap once again. His leather jacket covered a blue shirt and a dark jeans, his clothing, as usual, was impeccable. He opened the door in one fell swoop and in a moment he was inside the room. He locked the door and lay the suitcase down next to the entrance. He looked around, but there was no trace of her.

He made a few steps inside and let his eyes travel around the room. On the right side there was a double bed, on the left a long leather couch, a glass table with a vase on it and a modern style lamp.

In front of him, there was a huge window overlooking a wonderful New Haven view.

So the bathroom had to be at his back, behind the door he saw entering the room.

"Hello, Jarod." her voice said.

Jarod turned around and found the person he had made the date with: Miss Parker.

"Good evening, my lovely…"wife"?! With my deep regret I notice you haven't broken the habit of pointing a weapon at me." he answered, while watching her 9 mm aimed at his chest.

Miss Parker was smiling.

"You were such a silly boy to invite me here. Your message was almost touching…"

...

_Miss Parker was talking with Sydney and Broots when she got that e-mail. The sender was anonymous, but he wrote in Jarod's style. While the two men argued about Raines' changes since he became the leader of The Centre, the woman read the message greedily. _

_**Parker, it's time to stop playing games.**_

_**I'm tired of our "I run, you chase" relationship. **_

_**I'll be waiting for you tonight at New Haven Hotel, come alone.**_

_**If you don't come, I'll understand.**_

_Without saying another word, Parker took her coat and disappeared bound for Connecticut and leaving Sydney and Broots asking themselves what had happened to her._

_..._

Jarod stared at Miss Parker intensely, he wanted her to understand everything and, most of all, he had never wished so much before that she wasn't so stubborn.

"It was not one of your greatest ideas to date me here tonight." She continued, always smiling. "And now, we're going home."

"I see you continue to talk about The Centre as your "home"…"

Miss Parker suddenly changed her look and pressed him: "I'm tired of chasing you all around United States, I want go back to living my life without it passing me by, Jarod."

"That's weird." he answered, making a step forward. "That's what I'd love to do since I ran away".

"Freeze Jarod. Don't make me cuff you. It's gonna be easier if you don't resist."

"The pity is, Miss Parker…if you shoot me, you couldn't go home so unnoticed as you wish." he replied, approaching her gradually.

"I'm calling Sam and we're taking you away together."

"So you were so kind to come without your lovely sweepers…I wonder why this doesn't surprise me at all."

Now Jarod knew that Parker's behavior was dictated by a unique feeling: fear. She came alone, she hadn't told anyone where she was going, and Jarod knew that for sure.

...

_Sydney answered the phone after a few seconds: "Miss Parker?"_

"_No, it's me – Jarod replied – I was actually looking for her, Sydney. She isn't answering me either."_

"_She left a couple of hours ago and didn't say where she was going. She said she had to do something alone and asked us to let her be." Sydney explained._

_Jarod smiled, even if he didn't like lying his mentor: "I'll find another time to harass her, then. See you soon, Syd." _

_He ended the phone call and went on driving towards New Haven._

_..._

Miss Parker took her mobile from the coat pocket and made Jarod understand she was not afraid at all to call somebody and advise that she caught him. But Jarod was tired of those games. He hadn't come all that way to lose time, he had something important to tell her.

The woman dialed Sydney's number and waited for the call to begin. Jarod looked at her annoyed, then he moved suddenly towards her and took the phone, stopping the call exactly while Sydney was answering, then he threw it across the room. Now Parker was looking at him a little afraid, her gun tip was by then touching Jarod's chest.

He looked at her like he was challenging her to do something.

"You shouldn't have done that, boy genius."

"I'm tired of all this, Parker" Jarod started and with every sentence, he made a step forward forcing her to move back towards the wall.

"I'm tired of this stupid relationship between us where you are a hunter and I'm your prey…I'm tired of hiding my real feelings…and above all I'm tired of pretending I'm running from you while all I really want to do is stay with you."

Parker had her shoulders at the wall and Jarod got the gun from her hands, then threw it on the couch and leaned his hands on the wall, closing her inside his hold. Their faces were very close and Parker couldn't wriggle from his presence. She could just avoid looking inside his eyes, because if she did that, she knew it would be the end.

"Look at me, Parker…" he said. The woman didn't want to and shook her head, without speaking.

"Look – at – me I said." he repeated, articulating the words one by one.

Parker gave up and raised her eyes. She saw a harsh look on Jarod's face. It was the same look he had whenever she tried to deny the truth. But it lasted just a moment, because after a few seconds he had that lost-puppy-look again and seemed to be begging her.

Jarod took his hands off the wall and stood upright, releasing her from his hold. Then he stroked her hair and smiled.

"Jarod…"

"Enough talking." he concluded.

Then it happened. He pulled her to him and kissed her. It was a kiss having any kind of feeling in it: passion, rage, love, pain, madness, resent and, above all, regret. It had been kept for too long, but now they couldn't pretend anymore. Parker let herself go completely for a few seconds, she couldn't dare stand back. Feeling their desire growing, they move back across the room and start taking off their respective jackets. Then Parker winced and sent away Jarod, shouting: "No!"

After turning him away, she made for the couch looking for the gun he had thrown away a few minutes before, but Jarod stopped her taking her by the hand.

"This time you're not running anymore, Parker." he told her, while he pulled her towards himself, hugging her.

"Let me go!" she shouted.

"No…That's not what you really want!" he whispered her ear.

Trying to wriggle, she forced herself not to wince again when she felt his hands holding her tightly, but gently.

Parker whirled round and slapped him, forcing him to let her go. Upset at what she had just done, she hid her face with her hands and turned her back, looking at the window. Jarod had expected such a reaction and touched his cheek almost amused by the situation, but he knew exactly what to say.

"Parker…It's always been you…since we were kids at The Centre…the only important person in my life, it was you…you can't even imagine how much…"

Miss Parker was wide-eyed now; she felt she couldn't hold back her tears for long.

"I wrote if you didn't come, I'd understand. But now you're here and I won't allow you to spoil this moment, even if it means I have to disappear forever from your life."

Parker was staring at the windows now, but didn't have the strength to turn back. Jarod, instead, piled it on: "And this time I won't give you clues or mental games to let you find me. I'll be a ghost, and you won't have to bear my presence anymore. So, is that what you want?"

Miss Parker couldn't turn back, not now. She was definitely crying. Jarod, on the contrary, kept hoping she would stop him, she would react and admit her real feelings for him.

He waited a few seconds more, then he understood it was a lost cause. He knew what to do.

Miss Parker squeezed her eyes and found her courage. Would everything end that way? How much she would repent in the years to come if she did not stop Jarod when she could?

She whirled round and found Jarod was gone. The door was ajar and she ran towards the corridor, calling him out loud "Jarod! Jarod!"

There was no trace of him. The elevator was going down, she'd have never reached him.

She came back in the room and closed the door behind her, bursting into tears.

"Silly, fool! What did you expect, he would wait for you forever?" she shouted at herself.

She dried out her eyes and shrugged, trying to regain control of herself. What she would tell Sydney?

She turned around again and found Jarod was there, in front of her. She was speechless.

"I needed to know if you were ready." he whispered moving close to her. "Now I know you are."

He took her hands in his and gave her a kiss on the forehead. Parker smiled and dried her face, with Jarod's help.

After a tense laugh, she kissed him again. Tenderly, as if she had something to be forgiven for.

"I'm sorry I slapped you" she explained.

"I know you're a tough woman…I also have a whip and some studs in that suitcase…" he replied, leaning his forehead against hers. Parker laughed serenely and tightened her arms around his neck.

They stood like that for a few seconds, savoring that moment because everything seemed so easy. When Parker started panicking, she stared at him. "What are we gonna do?"

"We'll think about that tomorrow. Tonight, it's just us"

"What did you have in mind?" she asked, teasing him.

Jarod smiled and tripped her, making her fall onto the bed. Parker burst out laughing and so did he, while he was lying next to her. Their laughs became a tense silence when he started stroking her arm.

"Are you nervous?" he asked her.

Even if the answer she had in her mind was "yes", Miss Parker knew she wasn't nervous at all. That man next to her had always known her, better that anyone else. He helped her defeat ghosts from her past and find out the truth about her family. He guided her away from that numbness The Centre had forced her to live in for years.

"No. I'm happy." she concluded.

Jarod smiled and closed his eyes for a second, afraid that maybe, if he'd opened them, he would find it had been a dream. When he felt ready, he lifted his eyelids. Parker was still there, with her vast light blue eyes staring at him. And when he saw her smiling and moving close to him to be held, he understood he had done the right thing.

* * *

**NEW HAVEN HOTEL – NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT**

**7.45 a.m.**

When Miss Parker woke up the morning after, she found herself convinced it all must have been a dream. But when she realized she was not in her bed and she was completely naked, she understood she couldn't be farther from the truth.

Jarod and her. It was true.

She stretched her arm to touch the pillow next to her, but he wasn't there. So she rolled over and saw the other part of the bed was empty. Had he gone away without saying anything?

Then she heard the noise of the shower coming from the bathroom. She stood up and put on the bathrobe, then she glanced at the gun on the couch. Feeling she wouldn't have need for it anymore, she took it just as Jarod was coming out the bathroom. He had a towel around his waist and another one in his hand, to dry his hair. He looked at her suspiciously, without saying anything at all. But Parker opened the gun and took off the loader, showing him it was completely empty.

Jarod smiled and put his hands on her arms.

"I took it…just to scare you." She whispered while he kissed her. "I'd never hurt you, you know that?"

"Sure." He answered "But thank you for confessing this, it must have cost you a lot"

"You have no idea!" she laughed.

"Why don't you have a shower…I'm going to alert Sydney and Broots that you're fine."

"Ok." she answered.

While Parker focused on herself, Jarod saw to the more obvious business. First he got dressed, then he called Sydney with Parker's mobile.

"Parker, thank God! Where are you, everyone's going crazy at The Centre!"

"It's Jarod, Sydney" He answered "And don't worry, Miss Parker is very fine"

"Jarod where are you? Do you need any help? Something happened?" he asked, very worried.

Jarod smiled. "We're just reconciling ourselves with the past…to be prepared for the future."

"What do you mean? Jarod?"

But the communication had already ended, and Jarod had left Sydney as always: without any precise answers.

Shortly after he called room service and made sure the florist he had seen the night before on his way to the hotel brought some roses for Parker, and promised a lavish tip if they would do everything in ten minutes.

When everything was ready, Jarod looked at his work on the table. His plan to "conquer" Parker wasn't over yet. That was another step: sweeten her with a superb breakfast.

Jarod realized he got the desired effect when he saw the surprise in Miss Parker's eyes when she came out the bathroom dressed up and perfect in every detail. She also put on that perfume he adored and he hadn't smelled often since he ran away from The Centre.

"What is this?" she asked.

"Breakfast, Miss Parker…By the way, you think I could start calling you by name, sooner or later?"

"No. You made me a promise years ago, remember?" she asked.

...

"_Look what a beautiful calligraphy you have…I like the way you write, Jarod"_

_Miss Parker and the boy genius were sharing one of those rare moments when he had a break from simulations, so they were writing their signatures on papers, trying to involve Angelo too. _

"_Come on Angelo, that's not your name!" Jarod says, when he saw the boy writing "Timmy" on the paper._

_Miss Parker wrote her entire name, speaking out loud._

"_I like your first name." Jarod said "Why am I not supposed to call you by your first name?"_

"_My mother was the only one who could call me like that…I don't want anyone to say it anymore, promise me you won't tell anybody what my name is…If you are my friend, swear it!"_

"_I promise, Miss Parker."_

_..._

"Ok, I'm going to continue calling you as you wish, Miss Parker."

"Thank you, Jarod."

"Now it's my turn to say something…And please, let me finish, because it's very important that you understand"

"All right." she whispered.

Jarod breathed and let her drink some fruit juice, then he started.

"I've always known I loved you…Since we were kids at The Centre…My simulations were dreadful, and I had no friends, apart from Angelo. Then you came…They introduced you into my life as another experiment, to see what kind of effect you would have had on me…But they didn't know what I felt."

Parker swallowed, holding in a sigh.

"We've been through so many things you and me, at The Centre…But then you grew up and you father sent you to study in Europe, so we were separated the one from the other and you forgot me. But I never stopped asking other people where you were."

...

"_Jarod, you must get over it, Miss Parker is not coming back." answered Sydney to a little more than eighteen year old Jarod. _

"_It's not possible Syd…She must come back…She promised me."_

"_By now she won't even remember who you are, Jarod! She's living her life and so you must do, going on with yours…"_

"_No, she promised me she would come back and we both would leave The Centre, together." he answered, thinking about that moment shared with her 5 years before. _

"_Then you must believe this…" he concluded, giving Jarod a Miss Parker hand-written note. It was her calligraphy, he knew it._

_**You were a good friend to me, Jarod. **_

_**But now you must forget me: I'm leaving and I can't take you with me. **_

_**We won't meet anymore.**_

_**Goodbye.**_

...

"I never wrote that note, Jarod." she whispered.

"I know. But at that time I was convinced you abandoned me and you would really forget me."

"In a way that happened, Jarod." She answered, feeling her guilt surfacing "I had a lot of fun in my school years, I had friends and men…And I forgot everything that ever happened to me when I was a kid at The Centre. I think that was a kind of self-defense that disappeared only when they called me back to…hunt you."

Jarod nodded ruefully.

"It was a mistake to forget you, Jarod. I forgot who I really was." she said.

"The day you came back." He continued, almost if he had ignored her. "Sydney told me. He knew I had been tormented by your absence for years, even if eventually I got over it."

Parker followed his speech hanging on every word he said.

"Maybe you won't believe me…But you were one of the reasons that pushed me to run away from The Centre. I wanted to meet you too much."

Parker was incredulous. "Your mother, your father…Your family…"

Jarod shook his head. "Yes, I wanted to find them at any cost, and I started looking for them as soon as I ran…But before I had to see you…The day after my escape, I came back to Blue Cove and started looking for you…You were out with a couple of friends of yours, later I found out they were your college mates. You were drinking something in a bar and you looked so happy…"

Parker focused on that memory and remembered the only night she went out with her schoolmates to talk about old times. That had been one of the most trivial and monotonous nights in her whole life.

"Then you went home and as soon as you got inside your living room, I saw you lying on the couch with a scotch glass in one hand…and a picture of Catherine in the other."

Parker couldn't hold back a tear.

"That was the moment I understood my purpose: not only would I have to find my family and avenge other people's injuries…I would also have to find out who actually killed Catherine, so that I could regain your trust…"

"Jarod…"

He took her hand from the other side of the table and squeezed it.

"You were so incredibly beautiful, Miss Parker…Even more than I remembered…You've had all, though you were still that sad kid I met at The Centre. I looked at you for a while, from the window, but I was too much intimidated to go in and greet you…I was sure you wouldn't have recognized me at all. And you know the rest…"

Jarod stood up and walked over to The Centre of the room, his arms folded. Parker reached him and made him turn towards her: "If you had come inside that night, and told me everything you said now…We would have been spared these years of chasing, Jarod."

He seemed skeptical. "You'd never have believed me…Your father and Mr. Raines tried to coax you and you started hunting me."

"They filled me with lies for years, and I bitterly regret I believed what they told me…But now I'm here, and I'm asking you to forgive me for being so selfish, weak and blind."

"You don't need my forgiveness if you won't forgive yourself first."

"But it can put me on the right track." she replied, smiling.

"You can't imagine how much I've waited for you, Parker." he whispered, stroking her hair.

"I hope it's worth it, Jarod. I don't want to deceive you."

"You won't. The past is officially past: now let's stick to the future."

"Together." she concluded.

Jarod kissed her and hugged her. He finally conquered her heart, now Parker was really his.

"I love you." he said without letting go of her.

Parker was initially surprised to hear herself answering "I love you too". But then she understood those words had been hid deeply inside her for years. Now she wouldn't have to lie to herself anymore.

...

_The future. Together._


	2. Chapter 2: Chocolate and Blue Roses

**DISCLAIMER**

Disclaimer in 1st Chapter.

As usual, thanks to Antoinette, and sorry for the "Castle" quotes ;)

Feel free to review and rate, even if you think this is terrible!

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**Chapter 2: Chocolate and Blue Roses**

**NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT**

**Ore 3.17 p.m.**

After spending the morning talking together, Jarod had decided to do something entertaining, that afternoon. Even though Miss Parker hadn't got idea where he was taking her, Jarod seems to perfectly know what he was doing. They were on the car he rented the day before, it was black with tinted glasses, in the typical Centre style. Jarod was driving at moderate speed, with his sunglasses covering his eyes, but a very smiling face. Miss Parker sit next to him and sometimes she glanced at him. When Jarod caught her watching him, she turned her eyes fast, a bit embarrassed, like a child caught spying her boyfriend.

Jarod instead seemed amused by that new and comfortable situation: it was the first time they traveled together on the same vehicle and he hadn't got his hands tied.

The landscape flew outside and became more and more rural. The day was lovely, as if it was a reflection of their mood.

"Jarod…It's half an hour you've been driving, where are you taking me?"

"You'll see." he answered. Then he took her hand and kissed it gently, obtaining in exchange a bright look on Miss Parker's face.

The trip went on for a few minutes, until Jarod turned through a path crossing a dirt road. He slowed down and finally stopped in front of a country red bricked manor. It was adorable, surrounded by luxuriant trees and wrapped in an atmosphere of total peace.

Miss Parker breathed deeply, finding that spring was coming and she would get out without her leather jacket soon. The wind messed her hair, that was falling heavy on her shoulders. It had grown since the last time she had seen Jarod.

"What's this place?" she asked, curious.

Jarod took off the sunglasses and shut the car door. "This was the house where your mother used to spend summers before you were born. It was on sale until a few days ago, but not anymore."

"Who bought it?"

"Me." Answered Jarod, who was smiling amused. Miss Parker knew that Jarod has lived for years with the money he stole from The Centre when he had run. But the fact he had always used that money to help people doesn't mean now he had the right to invest it in buying a house.

"If you're wondering" he continued guessing what she was thinking "I bought it with the money I made all these years with my "honest work". You may not believe me, but they paid me handsomely whenever I used my so called pretending-talent to help someone"

Parker smiled, bot for his joke and because Jarod, once again, had guessed what she was thinking.

"Catherine used to come here two weeks a year and she always invited an old friend of hers to spend some time together."

"Who?"

"My mother…" he finished, this time with lump in his throat. He approached her and held her from behind, laying warmly his face next to hers and smelling her hair coconut perfume.

"Can you figure that? Our mothers staying here for days, together…"

"Jarod, how could you possibly know this?" she asked staring at him and trying to understand how he could always know so many things.

"Because a few days ago, somebody sent me an e-mail with attached this" he answered, taking a picture from his jacket.

It was a black and white photo portraying Catherine and Margaret in front of that house, together. The manor hadn't changed since, while the smiles on the two women's faces had disappeared forever.

Margaret was pregnant, probably since a few months.

"March 1959…Jarod, this is a few months before…"

"I was born, exactly." he concluded her sentence.

"This means Margaret and my mother were really friends…They went on holidays together and knew before you were kidnapped by The Centre." Miss Parker whispered, her voice broken by emotion.

"I'm afraid it was this very friendship to mark the fate of my family…I've been searching for information for years, but these pictures came out just in the few months: first the one taken in front of the Alley Sports Bar, now this one…Both sent to me by an anonymous source, which seems to be always the same one according to me…And it is inside The Centre."

Miss Parker shook her head, thoughtful: "If it was Sydney, he would tell us, he never hid anything from us…"

"And if it was Angelo, he would send them to me years ago, he wouldn't have waited so long." continued Jarod.

"Not so many people could know secrets of our past so well and be ready to confess them…I would not want this to be a trap." continued Miss Parker. She was looking forward to get inside the manor, so she made a few steps towards the house door.

"I don't think this is a trap" Jarod stopped her, while Parker was turning again "After all…"

He came closer and looked at her, smiling: "Ending on the island of Carthis with you was the best adventure that ever happened to me"

Miss Parker snorted. "I don't think so, Jarod. You've had certainly better moments, in your life."

A second later she repented for what she had said, realizing that that "overgrown boy" had passed thirty years of his life locked up in hell. Jarod sighed: Miss Parker had so much to learn about kindness.

"Forgive me, I…"

"It's not possible to try and be romantic, with you. Maybe you abandoned your hunter nose, but you did not loose your sarcastic sense of humor."

Parker smiled, realizing how he got mad. Jarod was going quickly towards the manor and was walking heavily. What was that weird feeling she felt, maybe rage for fighting with him for the first time since they were a couple? That wouldn't be nor the first neither the last time they would quarrel, their relationship had always been like that, anyway. It wasn't easy to change and she would never be the "lovely wife". But she had to admit that she was having fun living such a moment. So she started following Jarod, who left her behind a few meters.

"Come on, Jarod…I'm sorry, sometimes I forget you lose the 80s!" she shouted, while he entered the manor before her and closed the door.

"Jarod!" she screamed, opening the door. As soon as she put a foot inside the antechamber, something like a hundred pounds of liquid plain chocolate fell above her and covered her from her head to her toe. She couldn't even scream, such was the surprise. Jarod was laughing next to her and enjoyed the show, that lasted not more that ten seconds. When the chocolate stopped falling from the bucket on the ceiling, Parker dried her face and stared at him, completely soiled. She licked her lips and found out it was good, that chocolate.

"Swiss import chocolate, if you were wondering" Jarod explained, approaching her but keeping a safety distance.

"Yes, that's what I was wondering…Why, Jarod?" she asked him, shaking some chocolate from herself.

Jarod made another step. "These are my favorite things." he said.

"What, your silly mind games that drive me mad?" she shouted, becoming again that frenetic hunter who got always cheated by his prey.

Jarod tightened and kissed her, tasting her lips bittersweet taste.

"Chocolate…and you."

Parker burst out laughing and kissed him again: "If I had my gun, you'd already have a hole in your foot."

"I thought that was my knee." he answered, remembering what she told her in Bahia Grande years before, when she menaced to shoot him.

"I change my mind easily…" she whispered slowly, smiling artfully.

"I know. I've always been good at persuading you to gain your trust…"

When she realized how true those words were, Miss Parker returned serious for a while. She proudly looked at Jarod ans she put her hands on his shoulders.

"Jarod…Did I ever thank you for everything you've done for me all these years?"

...

_Jarod was sitting at the fireplace, next to Miss Parker, and their faces were by now very close_

"_The Centre wanted us to believe that finding the truth is a mistake, that looking for answers about who you really are is futile, and finding any kind of…connection" he stopped a second to taste that important word "outside their control is wrong." _

_Parker looked elsewhere for just a second. _

"_I know you don't want to hear this, but you can feel it. You have been The Centre prisoner all these years, just like me. With every discovery you find, you...you are every bit the outcast…" Jarod stopped again, the fire flames reflected in his eyes._

"_Just like me." he finally said._

"_Why is it that the one person ...that I have been trained...to distrust, to hate, to capture…He's always with me, during the most difficult moments of my life?" _

_Parker asked this question not only to Jarod, but also to herself._

"_Maybe, it's supposed to be that way…" he answered._

_..._

When Jarod thought about thos moments, he felt for a moment like when he was on the island. He actually did not kiss her, that night?

"Yes, you did" he said, answering the previous question.

Parker looked at him incredulous, sure that she never really pronounced the word "thank you" in a very honest way, to Jarod. But she knew that he had his own reasons to think so.

"Boy genius, I need to take a shower or I'll be very clammy in a few seconds."

"Sure, _sweetheart_, go ahead."

Miss Parker now was staring at him, simply furious. _Sweetheart_?

Jarod smiled. "How come you can give me ridiculous epithets but I can't call you by first name, neither give you a nickname? Well, I'll start calling you C…"

Miss Parker stopped him with a kiss. She didn't want to give in, and Jarod knew she often had the last word.

She went looking for a bathroom inside the house and she found one with a huge shower upstairs.

Jarod, instead, started roaming inside the manor he just bought. He was almost sitting on the couch when he heard Parker shouting from upstairs: "Come on, Mr. Houdini, I'm waiting!"

Jarod stood up and smiled with himself: "That a woman…"

* * *

After the shower – regenerating for both – the two of them started wandering around the house. They were intrigued by every detail: the yellowed wallpaper, the inlaid bedside tables, the chest in the living room, the rustic styled kitchen. It seemed to have come out from a 50's furniture catalogue. But the thing that leaped to their eyes was the complete absence of décor: no photos at the wall, no low cost ornaments bought during an hazardous holiday, nothing remembering the past.

Parker started wondering if The Centre hadn't cleaned up the house yet, taking all the precious stuff belonging to Catherine and Margaret.

"Jarod you've already been here. You didn't find anything belonging to my mother, did you?"

Jarod shook his head. He followed her in a mysterious was and seemed to be intent on observing every move she made. Parker, on the other hand, touched every object she saw.

"Why did you buy it, then?" she asked, confused.

"I hoped your inner sense could lead us to solve the mystery hiding between these walls"

Parker stopped and looked at him seriously. "My inner sense?"

Jarod nodded. They had experienced how much Miss Parker's intuition had grown many times. Her capability of feeling sensations, emotions and also having visions was comparable to Jarod's talent as pretender. But whereas his one was a rational talent, Parker's one was completely irrational and subjective. They were perfectly complementary with each other.

"Sometimes I wonder…If your mother did foreseen the future that is waiting for us." said Jarod.

Parker touched a marble-topped chest, on which there was a Victorian style mirror. Her gaze got lost in her reflection for a second, and a moment later she wasn't there anymore.

...

_Behind her, two kids sat on the floor and laughed, playing and making pyramids with cubes of various sizes. The boy was dark haired and seemed a little bigger than the girl, who had a thick brunette hair and very light blue eyes. Miss Parker saw Catherine and Margaret standing next to the children, intent to admire their babies. _

"_I'd be glad if they keep such bound even when they get older." Margaret said._

"_Oh, they'll be even more than this" Catherine whispered, smiling at the babies. _

_..._

"Miss Parker" Jarod shouted.

Realizing that he spoke up, Miss Parker understood she might have been absent for a few seconds, while she was having that vision. Her heart was pounding but she couldn't understand why. After all, she had just seen a moment of her youth she could have remembered even without that "sensation".

"Jarod…I saw you…" she started to explain, moving towards the exact point where the children were playing until a few seconds before.

"Of course, Parker: I'm here…" he answered, holding her hand.

"No…I've seen you playing here, as a kid…You might have been three…And there was me too, probably two, or two and a half."

Jarod looked at the floor, but he couldn't see anything but the parquet, obviously.

"My mother and yours…They were here with us…And they watched us playing together…Do you remember anything of that?"

"No…But I have almost no memories of my life before they kidnapped me…It's my greatest regret" he explained ruefully.

Parker smiled. "It was wonderful…They wanted us to preserve that bound and be so close even when we grew up…"

Then Jarod had a flashback of his childhood, back at The Centre.

...

"_Jarod, I've been told you already met my lovely child." Catherine said, while she was walking with him through The Centre corridors. _

"_She's my best friend. I love staying with her, she's brave and smart, and sometimes she also makes me laugh. And she's beautiful as you are, Mrs Parker."_

_Catherine, with a strange light in her eyes, lowered and put her hands on his shoulders "Jarod, how many times did I ask you to call me Catherine?"_

"_Mr. Raines told me not to, Madame Parker."_

_Catherine tried to smile and invited the little Jarod to keep walking. _

"_You're are so smart, my boy…Your mother would be so proud of you…"_

_Omitting any other formality, Jarod lost his inhibition "Do you know my mother?"_

_Catherine, noticing people walking around them, asked Jarod to be quiet and then let him sit on a bench. _

"_You know, I cannot talk to you about this, but you have to know something: I'll do everything possible to protect you and the other children…And that's why something terrible could happen to me…"_

_Jarod shook his head "You must not take the risk, I've got Sydney who takes care of me. He promised me that my parents will come back and take me away."_

_Catherine smiled and held him, touched "Jarod, promise me that if something happens to me, you'll take care of my daughter."_

"_I don't want anything to happen to you, Madame Parker. You're good and careful and always treated me with respect."_

_Catherine had her eyes bright "Jarod…I know you will have to pass through adversities and things that could take you away from each other. But in this very moment I want you to swear that whatever happens…you'll always be Charlotte's best friend"_

_Jarod didn't answer, he couldn't accept the idea to loose the only woman who remembered him of his mother. _

"_Promise me Jarod…Swear that you'll always be near to her, whatever happens, even in the most difficult times of her life when she will need a guide to make important choices."_

"_I promise, Catherine."_

_She held him tenderly, then she saw Sydney in the distance and urged Jarod to go back to him._

_..._

Jarod had never told Parker about this. And not because he didn't want to, but because he couldn't remember this, before.

"I was right. This house can help us to remember…" he whispered.

"Did you see something too?"

"I just remember something I hadn't been thinking about since '69…A talk with your mother."

Parker stared and made him understand she wanted to know everything instantly, so Jarod satisfied her and told her with very clear and precise details what he just remembered. _Too much_ clear and precise.

Sat on the couch in the huge living room, Jarod described the loving cares he had received from Catherine just before she died. Even if she was a stranger, at his eyes, she had behaved almost like a mother, at least until The Centre and Mr. Parker allowed her to.

"She was the one to insist that you were the girl of that sim…The day we met."

Parker smiled, thinking about that "Yeah…With that brunette bobbed hair and schoolgirl-dressed I might have revved you up."

Jarod laughed "Your presence was enough. I mean, a kid surrounded by men, did you expect me not to get mad for the first girl I saw? You were the only female being I've thought about for years."

Miss parker deepened and realized that the boy genius had hit a nerve. She often wondered if he had idealized her just because he never had to do with other women. And what he just said seemed to confirm that her fears were well-founded. She stood up, her arms folded and her face sulky.

"What?" Jarod asked, guessing that her sudden change of mood was due to what he had just said.

"Maybe you don't love _me_ Jarod, but the idea of you and me together. Maybe you think you love me just because you never found better…"

Since Parker had said this shot from behind, she couldn't see the pleased smile Jarod had on his face.

She was actually considering that problem? But she didn't remember anymore what he said on the car when they were coming back from the isle of Carthis?

...

"_What am I supposed to do, Jarod?"_

"_Only you can answer that. I'd just hate to see anyone miss a turning point when one is staring them right in the face."_

"_And I suppose you're gonna open my eyes?"_

"_No, you don't need me to do that. Only you can decide for yourself whether or not to take a hard look at your life...the way your mother once did."_

"_Leave my mother out of this, okay? I am not her."_

"_Then who are you? Your father? Is the Parker legacy what you want to pass on to your children?"_

_He had stopped for a second and she had looked at his father imposing figure, standing right outside of the car. What Jarod was saying made sense completely. _

"_Look, we've been through a lot together, you and me. From when we were kids at The Centre... to the last couple of days. I know that rarely our allegiances are the same but I've always felt- I've always known...that there was something more to our lives than I run and you chase."_

_Even if that declaration had shocked her, she had not showed "Maybe we do what we have to just to get by in this life, Jarod."_

"_Maybe we both deserve something more." He had whispered._

"_Just…Just forget what happened on that island. Forget that moment of weakness. Turning points only come when you've got something to turn to." _

_When Jarod had taken his hand and hold it inside his ones, imploring her to realize that her turning point had finally arrived, she had suddenly retracted her hand. _

"_I'm sorry... this isn't the different ending you were looking for. But it's just the way the damn story goes, Jarod."_

_..._

"Even if you are such a smart woman, sometimes you talk nonsense, Parker" he said, holding her from behind her back.

"Is that nonsense?" she asked, turning around to look at him in his eyes.

Jarod smiled "It's true. I've never had to do with many others female creatures until I was more that thirty. In my mind there was only you. I was practically obsessed by you, I already told you that. But once I ran, as you know, I met hundreds of people. I can assure you I had to do with other women, and you know that…"

Parker thought about that painful moment when she realized she was jealous of the fleeting ship Jarod had with Nia Pedron. At that time, she defined herself "foolish" and hadn't told no one what she felt, not even Sydney.

"But I had this umbilical cord that kept me linked to The Centre…it couldn't allow me to live my experiences in a completely "normal" way. Wherever I was, I needed to call you, to drive you mad with the mind games I left for you and all the clues, all because every time I hoped that you have found me…"

Parker looked at him questioning what he was saying.

"Did you ever wonder why I didn't just disappear? A "genius" like me can cover his own tracks, but I always left them, very evident, to let Broots find out where I was and allow you to reach me. Sometimes you found me too late, sometimes too soon…But my main purpose was always the same: to see you again, Miss Parker."

"That's what I can't understand, Jarod…You might have met a lot of women, nicer and much more willing than me, why didn't you chose one of them?"

"Uh, well, you're right…Many women knew me, some of them loved me. They were incredible women, and I'll always remember them with affection. But they all share the same fault…"

"What, red-haired?" she asked ironically.

"None of them was you."

Parker blushed slightly and let herself go a little, holding her arms around Jarod's neck, while he put his ones on her waist.

"And now I'll try to finish this long and tedious speech, I know your ears don't love sloppy things"

Parker laughed: something was moved inside her indeed, a few seconds before.

"I tried so hard to make you open yourself: I wrote a romantic book about you, I sent you presents to let your understand I remembered every single thing you told me, I tried to regain your trust by helping you to find out what happened Catherine. But I failed…When I realized you didn't feel for me the same things I did for you, I give somebody else the possibility to make you happy."

_Here we're talking about Thomas_, Parker thought.

"And believe me: if things worked out, you'd had never received presents or clues from me, just a friend to trust whenever you want to – as I had promised Catherine. Unfortunately we both know what happened… Tommy's death was a tragedy for me too, because that was the moment I had to come back and have to do with you: I needed to distract you and give you an excuse to prevent you from suffering."

Miss Parker nodded convinced. After Thomas's death the only person who was really next to her was Jarod. That was the first time she opened her eyes about The Centre, about her life. She had never appreciated Jarod more than that day he confessed her he knew Tommy before she did.

"I was again your _toy_, I was again the thing you hated more in the whole world. And you can't imagine how much I suffered. In fact that was the period I tried to get away from you, the moment I met Zoe."

Parker groaned to let him understand she remembered the woman that competed with her for Jarod's love.

"But even if it was lasting, with her…" Jarod sighed "Just one day spent together with you was enough to let me understand…We were lost on an island, we risked to die, but…I can't help thinking about Carthis as the opportunity I had to lower your defenses…Believe me, I loved you more and more every time my eyes met yours, that night."

"Oh, Jarod…"

"Maybe it's true: if my life had been different and I had a normal childhood, I probably would not love you as much as I do. I wouldn't have spent my teens obsessed by the memory of that girl who gave me my first kiss. And I wouldn't have passed my first years of freedom driving you mad because I actually wanted you to find me, for sure!"

Parker laughed, this time out loud.

"But I'm sure of one thing: even if I had lived with my family, we would have grown up together. Because what you saw a few minutes ago, it was a memory, not a mirage."

Parker smiled "You're right. And it was beautiful, intense…We were so happy, even if so young and innocent."

"Your mother asked me to be your friend forever. And that's what I've always done since then. Sometimes it was very hard, because you pushed me away. Other times it was so easy, like that night in Bahia Grande…And you wondered why I saved your life…"

"Well, I'm telling you a secret: women's questions always want to test men's feelings. We love to get flattered with sweet words, I bet you didn't know this one."

"That's why I answered you mentioning our first kiss, Miss Parker…You see? I know women very well"

"You know _me_, for sure. Maybe better than anyone else, because you saw the real Charlotte, the one I forgot when my mother died."

"I see three different persons inside you: the little Charlotte, my best friend…Miss Parker, the ice-woman who chased me for years lying to herself…"

He stopped for a second and leaded her in front of the mirror where she stood before.

"And now…_my_ Parker. The one who's going to join those two personalities and who's going to decide if she truly loves me."

Parker smiled, looking at the reflection of that smart and enigmatic man "You're always the same Jarod, instead: an overgrown child who must still find his way home."

"Maybe" he answered, his face lost inside her brown hair "But at least now I found the courage to tell you that I love you, so I've made a step forward toward my future."

Parker nodded and kissed him gently. How could she doubt of the strong feelings that bind them just now that all the missing pieces of the puzzle were starting to fall into place?

"I've always been afraid that I'd…got older alone…chasing you to no avail…Sometimes I imagined myself as a remade-sixty-trigger-happy woman and with a liver crushed for my alcoholic problem."

Jarod looked at her seriously and then, suddenly, they both started laughing. They went on for a few seconds, so that Parker realized she was even crying with laughter.

...

"_Jarod, tell me a joke!" Miss Parker asked Jarod. They were wandering in the Biodome 28 East Gallery, where there was the internal greenhouse. Sometimes they met there and pretended to be in a London Park, where both of them would have wanted to live, once older._

"_What is a joke, Miss Parker?" Jarod replied, because he'd never heard that word before._

_Parker came close to a blue roses bush, her favorite. Sometimes she went inside that greenhouse just to steal one and be chased by the botanist, who reproached her for her continual robberies._

"_It's like a funny story…But you must understand it, if you really want to laugh."_

_Jarod started to think intensely. He was fourteen, and he had known Miss Parker for a very long time. He was starting to look at her in a different way. They were growing and so were their instincts. Sydney had taught him everything about women courting, and yet he never dared making the first step, with Miss Parker, because she was also his best friend and he couldn't figure how she would react. _

_When he saw her staring at the blue roses, he came close and bended to the ground with her. _

"_Flowers growing down here are not like the ones that live outside, under the sunlight."_

"_Why?" she asked, not so convinced._

"_Down here, nothing is real. The flower can rise, grow and live. But this will never be a complete existence, not without savoring the wind, the sun, the night."_

_Parker looked at him, hung on every word. If only Jarod could understand how much she loves him. He was the only one who said those kind of things, the only one who made her feel fine. After school, she always went to The Centre with her father, who obliged her to spend the entire day imprisoned there. But the truth was…that even if she could have chosen, she would never leave Jarod, nor Angelo. They were her only friends. _

"_Perhaps, Jarod. But also buds born inside here can grow and bloom. They just have to find their own way differently…"_

_Jarod nodded, his face was very serious: "Sydney said you're leaving soon for Europe for your studies…He said your father wants to move you away from The Centre."_

"_I won't go, I'm not going to leave you…"_

"_Would you really stay here because of me?" _

_Parker smiled "Of course, but don't fool yourself!"_

_Jarod turned red and looked elsewhere. The botanist wasn't there, so he took a blue rose from the bush, took it with the entire stem, then gave it to Miss Parker, who smiled._

"_Promise me one day…we're leaving…you and me." _

"_And where could we possibly go? Do you reckon Mr. Raines and Sydney would allow you to do that?"_

_Jarod shook his head "No…But I'll find a way to get out of here…And then we'll leave and go very far, we'll live together and be friends forever."_

"_Friends?" she asked, nervously. _

_Jarod smiled and took her hand "We'll be whatever you want us to be…"_

"_I love you, Jarod."_

"_Me too, Miss Parker."_

_..._

The echo of those words was still repeating inside her mind, when Miss Parker stopped laughing. A new memory, a new vision…But why just _then_, and all together? Why hadn't she thought about those moments for years? There were others details of the past she shared with Jarod that she had never forgotten. Like their first kiss, or Faith's discovery, or the day in which they have met. Why those memories instead were resurfacing just then?

Jarod suppressed his last laughter and touched his chest, then he sat on the couch. He was observing Parker with a calm and peaceful look, as if he had never felt happier in his entire life. She responded with a languid and grave glance, mostly when Jarod stretched his arm to invite her sitting next to him.

Parker took his hand and sat so as she could look at his face.

"Jarod…Do you think The Centre might have…taken away deliberately…pieces from our memory?"

He sighed "I don't think there is such a technology, but…With a good hypnosis work and mostly with a great knowledge of our memories…Yes, I guess they might have done that. Why are you asking?"

"Because…since we came here I've started remembering events that I didn't even know that were happened! And all about us…"

"What did you see, this time?" he asked, curious.

Miss Parker smiled "Blue roses…And our promise to leave The Centre together."

Jarod gazed into space and time and a few seconds later he remembered the same thing. How could he possibly forget such a beautiful moment?

Suddenly he realized that he had memories of other events mostly because of The Centre DSAs. His life in Blue Cove had always been monitored and catalogued. The cameras followed him at any time, and they never left him…So where did such important DSAs end up?

"You know, I think someone made vanish those important moments of our lives from The Centre archives to hide them from further controls."

"My mother?" she asked.

Jarod shook his head "Catherine died in 1970, for all we know…The memories we're talking about go well beyond, at least until '75, the year you left…"

"Then who?"

"I don't know…But I'd love to find them. There are so many moments to revive, and now…to share, too." he whispered, taking her hand and keeping it close to his face. Parker thought that gesture incredibly sweet, but she didn't show.

"Have you really felt something for me, when we were kids?"

"I would have never admitted with a clear mind, but I was the one broke the ice, if I'm not mistaken!" she answered.

"You said girls mature faster than boys…"

"I was lying, I was just cheeky." she laughed, opening her eyes, which were immediately hit by the light coming through the window. Jarod kissed her tenderly and, once again, he kept his forehead in touch with hers, in silence and eyes closed. Then he kissed her forehead and stood up, leaving her astonished.

"Jarod, what's in your mind?"

"If we want this to be _forever_…it's time to put an end to The Centre hegemony."

Parker did not expect that sudden change of route. She had hoped that they would have taken a few days holyday to talk, stay together, remember…

"Jarod…Why don't we run? Just the two of us…We may tell Broots and Sydney, they'll help us to hide…we'll leave for Europe, for London…Or Haiti, or Thailand, or Siberia…"

Jarod turned around while she was standing up and approaching him.

"Twenty-four hours ago, my life was chasing you…"

"What changed?" he asked.

"Now _you_ are my life. I know this took me too long, and I'm sorry. But I don't want to risk losing you right now we finally found each other!"

Parker was incredibly crying. Jarod felt so protective towards her, that he could not resist watching her crying a second more.

"Parker, the only thing I want right now is to stay with you…But my family is out there, somewhere…I can't let it go. Besides remember that if The Centre finds out about us, Raines wouldn't hesitate to kill us."

Parker dried her eyes and nodded rapidly. For a moment, Jarod saw in her that little girl in need of affection he met at The Centre. He didn't feel like ending that happiness they were feeling since the night before. For once in a lifetime, he felt the need to be selfish and put _his_ feelings before the others'.

"I'm making a pact with you, Parker. We're staying here for a week. Just you and me. We may pass some time together and you'll probably get tired of all these sugary words."

She sniggered: it was the first time she was thinking that it might be good to live just on air and love. What was she, seventeen?

"But then, we get serious. We'll have to continue the work we started in Carthis: we must find The Centre and Triumvirate weaknesses…And destroy them, once and for all."

"Nothing I want more…A holiday week with my prey…This must be my lucky day!" she said, back in her right mind. Jarod smiled.

* * *

Jarod and Miss Parker sat in the living room. Outside it was hot, however they had lighted the fire and eaten a romantic dinner in front of the fire. Now she was lying on the couch, while Jarod sat on the floor in front of her, with a glass of red wine in his hand.

"I thought you don't like wine, but after tonight I must admit I discovered another thing about you that I didn't know and that I like."

Jarod laughed "I'm not a great drinker, Parker. But I couldn't give up a glass of good Chianti in such a fascinating company…"

Parker started stroking his hair, but Jarod stared at the flames in the fireplace.

"Tell me something you've kept secret" he asked her, turning around and looking at her with the eyes of a boy asking his mummy to read a bedtime story.

Parker smiled: she had exactly one in her mind that Jarod couldn't know.

...

_Jarod's clone was looking at her with the very same eyes she had __**her**__ Jarod. She saw in Gemini the same agonies that had suffocated Jarod during his years as a prisoner of The Centre. The same insecurities. As she felt like an eleven-year-old girl, she tried to explain why she went visiting him._

"_When I was your age, I knew a boy just like you. Exactly like you."_

_The young pretender couldn't understand how much that statement was true. _

"_I felt for him, but I never let him know…"_

_The boy was listening to her, almost without breathing._

"_I saw...pain... in his eyes...but I looked the other way…I see the same pain in your eyes. But I can't look away anymore."_

_..._

"How's the boy, by the way?" she asked, remembering that in the short time she had spent with him, she grew fond to him very much.

"My father called him Jesse…Did you know that's a name deriving from a word that might mean _gift_?"

"It's a lovely name…" she murmured.

Jarod smiled, thinking that he hadn't seen him for such a long time. Was he growing more and more like him?

"I don't know why exposed myself so much with him…Maybe I guessed that if I revealed him I felt something for you without telling…I would have silenced my guilt at least for a while…"

"This side of yours is so sweet…Did you actually realize you felt for me, then?"

She nodded slowly "Yes…And maybe I would have told you, if you hadn't kidnapped my father."

Jarod grimaced as he wanted to apologize, but it has been such a long time. He'd never really intended to hurt Mr. Parker. That man had eventually caused his own troubles by himself.

"But I made amend…I stayed with you when they shot you, remember?"

"No…I was unconscious…You didn't run?"

"I helped my father and Jesse to run, but I didn't leave with them: you were bleeding so damn much…My life with my family was right there, in front of me, and I was so fool that I staid there, stroking your hair with you father glowering me!"

Parker smiled to the idea, she would have wanted to be awake to see it.

"I wanted to take you to the hospital immediately, but Brigitte prevented me from doing it. That was when I tried to run."

"And yet you got caught!"

"You know what was the first thing I thought when I got back to The Centre?"

She shook her head.

"That you would have died without knowing the truth about my feelings for you…They didn't even tell me if you were dead or alive, while they confined you in that lonely hospital, and I didn't know if you were safe."

"Another cruelty to be charged on my lovely brother's account when it's time to deal with him…And instead…Another kiss to put into account on you" she said leaning and kissing him "and your sensibility towards me, that almost cost you to return to The Centre…"

"Thanks."

Parker yawned. All those words had tired her more than the last ten chases of Jarod.

"Wanna go to sleep?"

"No…I like the idea of you and me talking…It's like…As if we opened a Pandora's box. I'd be glad if you tell me everything, anything you feel to say, even insults!"

Jarod smiled, reckoning that was the right occasion to play a joke on her. She wanted to know everything? So that was the time to satisfy her.

"Ok, Parker. Well, I must confess I've noticed one thing: you put on some weight since we went on the island."

Parker stared at him and opened her mouth. That was true, in the last period she put on a couple of pounds. The uneasiness for not hearing news from Jarod (not even at the phone) had been remarkable in the last two months, and she had found comfort in food. But she couldn't have showed!

Parker stood and sat, without uttering a word.

"I…"

Jarod laughed up his sleeve, but was trying to keep a serious face. He wanted to see her mad, to see what she would answered that.

"Well, Jarod…Then I must admit…you have definitely a few more gray hairs." she replied in kind.

Jarod smiled "Oh, did I?"

Said that, he lied on the couch standing above her and started to kiss her, trying to curb the instinct to undress her. When his lips left hers, the fire crackling drowned the silence. Her beautiful light blue eyes looked again at him in huge desire.

"Have I already told you…how beautiful you are?"

She nodded "You're too much in love to see my faults, but I've got many."

"No, Parker" he answered, kissing her neck "You don't."

"Mmm…We should have done this five years ago!" she finally said.

Jarod couldn't do anything but smile.


	3. Chapter 3: The Lost DSAs

**DISCLAIMER**

As usual, thanks a lot to Antoinette, my Guardian Angel, she's helping me a lot getting through this...I was very looking forward for updating the story. I hope you all forgive my lack of good English, remember it's not my own language ;) I hope I did a good work anyway...

virginie59: Thanks a lot for your review. My story is finished, so I'll update it on daily basis. Thanks!

* * *

**Chapter 3: The Lost DSAs**

**CATHERINE PARKER'S MANOR **

**The day after – 9.07 a.m.**

This time it was Jarod who opened his eyes and did not find Parker close to him. At that moment the only thing he had in his mind was the sublime night he had just spent with the woman he loved.

He had dreamed of it so many times, that now he couldn't believe it was all true, but yet, it was.

When he started to wonder where Parker was, he called her, without obtaining a response from her. For a terrible moment, he wondered whether she had escaped secretly to come back to the Centre and organize a team of sweepers ready to take him away. A second later, he felt just foolish and he hated himself for doubting her. That night, after Parker had gone to sleep, Jarod hadn't been able to do so. He was so in love that his feelings were above his reason for the first time. And it was also the first time that his first thought wasn't for his family, for his mother, but for _her_.

Sure, he had always thought about Miss Parker, he had always admired her during his daydreams, but not as much. Looking at her sleeping right next to him, he realized for the first time that he would never let her go, that she was the most important thing in his life. His only glimmer of hope back at the Centre and now the first pretext that guided him to the mad desire of watching the Centre burn from its very foundation.

…

_Sitting in the bed right beside her, he had taken the phone and called the only person he could talk with._

"_It's Sydney."_

"_Did I wake you?"_

"_Jarod!" he answered "No, I've been waiting for your call for hours, I was sure you'd phoned. How's Parker?"_

_The pretender glanced at her wonderful silhouette. _

"_She's sleeping."_

_From his pupil's voice, it didn't take long to Sydney to understand that Parker wasn't just sleeping, but she was sleeping next to him. _

"_Do you think this is…right?" Jarod asked, almost looking for his blessing._

_Sydney smiled "I think this is the crowning of a journey you've started together years ago…and honestly I was sure it would have led where you are now…"_

_Jarod caressed Parker's naked shoulder, checking that she was sleeping. Fortunately, she was a heavy sleeper. _

"_I've never felt this way before, Sydney. Even if now I'm stronger…I also feel more…vulnerable."_

"_It's ok, Jarod…Think about how she might feel…I guess it wasn't easy to make her admit her own feelings."_

"_Almost like wrestling an alligator…" Jarod answered, grinning. _

_Sydney waited a few seconds "You deserve to be happy, Jarod…You two together are the answer to my prayers…Don't be afraid of loving each other."_

_Stunned by those words, Jarod couldn't say anything but "Thank you." and hung up. _

…

Jarod was going to stand up, when Miss Parker reached him, beaming with joy. She was dressed and was curiously wearing a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. She probably felt so at ease that she could avoid her classic elegant leather-look that Jarod always saw her wearing.

"Good morning, Boy Wonder!"

"Are we back to those epithets from the past?" he asked, a bit amused.

"I wanna show you something…I'll be waiting for you in the attic!" she explained, kissing him. Then she headed to the door.

"Parker!" he stopped her.

"What?" she asked, turning back.

"I'm sorry…"

She looked at him, astonished "For what?"

"I…"

She immediately realized why he was apologizing. And she also realized she didn't care at all if he had thought for a second that she had disappeared to reach the Centre and hand over him. It was fair enough if he was afraid, she had decided to change her life just two days before. But she could play it to her advantage.

"You're right, Jarod, I'm very disappointed…" she said, trying to stay serious and approaching to the bed.

"Really? I'm sorry, Parker, I don't know what…"

"I'm disappointed" she interrupted him "Because you keep persisting in apologizing! Stop blaming yourself, I know I've been your hunter for five years, it's ok if you're a bit afraid of me…"

"No, it's not" he answered, angry with himself.

"Jarod" she articulated well his name and sat next to him "I won't betray your trust. I won't hunt you anymore, unless it's fun. I won't stop loving you. I won't run away from myself. But you have to trust me…You think you can?"

All doubts Jarod have had disappeared at that moment. Parker was strong, smart, and…she was also incredibly exciting.

Jarod kissed her with passion, forcing her to contemplate the possibility to let wait the discovery she had made in the attic. But it was very important, so she tried to depart from Jarod.

"The attic…" she said between a kiss and another.

"It'll still be there in half an hour..." he answered.

Parker had no option but to agree.

* * *

When they reached the attic, Jarod was still wondering what Parker had found. He had inspected it deeply, hoping that he would have found some tracks of Catherine's past. But much to his regret, there wasn't anything: no trunk, no desk, no closet. It was completely empty.

This had surprised him because usually attics are places aimed to store any kind of objects, but not that one. It was _too much_ empty, even thinking that the house had been put on sale. Maybe the Centre had passed and swept the board. But then why didn't they control it, in case Jarod showed up?

"Parker, this room is completely empty!" he explained, moving his right arm around.

"Not if you know where to look…" she answered, smiling. Then she moved towards the farther corner and lowered to touch the parquet beams. A second later, she raised one of them and revealed a hidden compartment, where there was a box.

Jarod approached her astonished "Come on, you couldn't get it alone!"

"You're right, I've had a little help from my…inner sense."

…

_Parker was walking inside the attic and she heard the soft voices guiding her. She had spent an half an hour rolling in her bed, while she tried to understand where those voices were leading her. Then she had found the stairs that led to the attic and she had entered the room. As if she was in a trance, Jarod's mother had appeared in front of her, young and frightened. _

"_These must vanish!" she was saying, while she was taking an object towards the end of the room. Then Parker had seen her hiding the box under the floor. Margaret then had stood up, crying, and she had put the beam to its place, and then she had run out of the room. _

…

"You're telling me that my mother hid this here?"

Parker nodded.

"What's inside?" Jarod asked, a bit preoccupied.

"I thought we could open this together…" she answered, realizing that its contents could be very important, to Jarod.

He smiled and then opened the metallic box. It wasn't very big, but its contents were certainly precious. Inside, all in a jumble, there were a dozen DSAs from the Centre.

Parker and Jarod stared at each other as if they just discovered America. They stood up, the box held in his almost trembling hands.

"These could be…the videos about our lost memories!" she said, excited "Do you have the equipment to watch them?"

"I never leave it…" he answered, this time with regret.

It was true, his DSA viewer was the most important thing he had stolen from the Centre before disappearing, he couldn't leave it anywhere and he had to keep it to think about his past sims or to watch any moments of his life at the Centre.

They went downstairs and reached the room where Jarod had left his baggage. He took the briefcase and put it on the table, then they turned on the computer.

A DSA was still playing the first kiss Jarod and Miss Parker had shared in the December of '69. When he saw it, Jarod felt a bit embarrassed and tried to turn it off. But Miss Parker had never watched it before, so she almost moved when she realized the memory she has for that moment was perfect and not at all faded. She kissed Jarod on his cheek, so he felt a bit heartened. Then she took the first DSA from the box and waited for Jarod to put it in the player.

The date was set to 03/15/1974. The video was about the both of them.

…

"_How's your studies getting along?" Jarod asked, while he and Miss Parker wandered in his room. It wasn't filled with all the stuff he would have left at the Centre yet, but it was starting to reflect his personality._

"_I don't wanna talk about it." she answered, knowing that she would have to leave in a few months "I prefer swimming, lately."_

"_You never told me you're a swimmer!" Jarod said, a bit surprised for the umpteenth revelation that Parker just confided him. _

"_My mother was very good at it…So I've thought I could follow in her footsteps!"_

_Jarod then noticed her new wristwatch. _

"_It's very beautiful!"_

"_It was mummy's…" she explained, taking the watch and showing it to Jarod. _

_There was "Catherine Parker" name incised on it. _

_Guessing how much that meant to his friend, Jarod gave it back to her. _

"_A few days ago, I went to the lake with daddy…He was there with me, but he did no more than work…So I took the skip out alone and I went way out into the middle but…it started taking on water and then it sank."_

"_The skip sank?" he shouted out, worried "How could you save yourself?"_

"_I swam…I tried to swim to save my life, but the water was so cold, so my legs started cramping and my arms were aching…"_

"_How did you make it?"_

_Miss Parker smiled "The watch…I heard its ticking and I thought about mummy…I thought she used it to time herself and that maybe, if she had still been alive, she would have helped me…It was like my mother's voice whispering to me…"_

_Jarod took Miss Parker's hand and held it. _

"_Anyway daddy came and rescued me, fortunately…But I'm sure that I would have drowned, if it wasn't for this watch…It saved my life."_

_Jarod looked at her tenderly, stunned by that tale "I could have lost you…" he whispered to her._

"_But I survived." she answered, smiling._

_Jarod tried to approach her, but then Sydney had come inside to call him back to work. He was never too hard on Jarod and Miss Parker: they shouldn't have spent so much time together, but he knew they both needed it. They gave strength to each other and it was the only way to make Jarod manage his simulations with more tranquility. _

"_Let's go Jarod, your break is over."_

"_I'll see you tomorrow, Miss Parker…" Jarod said, holding her hand just for another second._

_She nodded a bit embarrassed, then she left. _

…

The DSA was over, but not the emotion felt by them both in watching that video.

"I remembered this one…" Jarod said, thinking that a couple of years ago he had shut Lyle and Parker inside a container to test their will to survive.

"Well, I didn't…In fact I've asked myself a million times how could you possibly know about my mother's watch…" she answered.

"You told me." Jarod whispered.

"Apparently I used to tell you everything…I was such a buttery girl." she admitted.

"You were sweet, and so you are now."

Parker sniffed to make the tears disappear from her eyes, then she radically changed subject "That container was the worst one, Jarod!"

He burst into laughter "Even worse than being an hostage in that bank?"

"But you were there with me…That was the first time we'd spent a little time together since you'd escaped."

"I know, but I hadn't planned it…" he answered with his mischievous gaze.

Then he took a new DSA from the box and put it in place of the previous one.

The date was set to 04/13/1970. Another video recorded the day of Catherine's presumed death.

…

"_Jarod, sweetheart, I must introduce someone to you…"_

_Catherine's voice was not calm as usual. She held a little defenseless and frightened boy's hand, who showed few signs of consciousness. Jarod and Miss Parker were looking at him, astonished. The little girl couldn't even know that would have been the last time she would have seen her mother alive. _

"_His name is T- …Angelo." she explained, trying to smile, but hardly keeping the emotion. _

"_What happened to him, Madame Parker?" Jarod asked, while he held his best friend's hand, because she seemed so frightened and worried by the young stranger._

"_Unfortunately some bad people hurt him, and now he needs to have some friends. Angelo won't ever be like other children, he'll always be…special."_

_Jarod looked at little Angelo and tried to guess how could he be "special". Miss Parker, on the other hand, felt the sense of dread in the boy's eyes. _

"_With time, you'll both learn to know him…Keep close to him, because I've not been able to…"_

_Then Catherine ran away, crying, leaving Angelo, Miss Parker and Jarod alone. The girl couldn't say a word: she had never seen her mother so upset. _

_The boy, on the other way, was visibly shattered and Jarod tried to touch his hand._

"_No…more…Timmy.…" they heard him saying._

_Jarod and Miss Parker stared at each other without answers. _

…

When the DSA was over, Jarod sighed. The memory of what had happened to Angelo was one of the worst linked to the Centre. Even more when he thought that he had been near to a full healing but he just couldn't, primarily because of Miss Parker. Unintentionally, he glanced at her reproachfully. But he didn't need to blame her more: she was crying bitterly, now. To see her mother, Angelo…It had marked her beyond imagination. Now that she was on the "right side", she could not help feeling a horrible person for helping The Centre and its misdeeds, mostly after her mother had tried to destroy it and save those children from their terrible destiny for years.

Jarod took the DSA and stood up, holding her with all his love. He held her tight, while she sobbed against his chest.

"I'm sorry…" she said, between a tear and the other.

"Shhh…Don't even say that…It's not your fault…"

Parker winced, such was the ardor of her weeping. She couldn't stop and she could just think that, once back at The Centre, she would have run to Angelo and apologized for the first time in her life.

"Parker…We had been manipulated for years…What happened to Angelo it's not your fault…Remember? You had given up, you had decided to help him and the boy…It was an accident…"

Parker tried to nod, but she didn't want to take her face from the warm and comfort embrace of Jarod's, who was calming her down.

"I don't blame you, not anymore…Neither Angelo…The young Davy saved himself, I kept an eye on him: he's living a peaceful life, surrounded by his family and friends. Angelo, instead…he is like he used to be, but now he knows that inside him, in a deep hidden corner, Timmy lives."

Parker finally broke away from the hug and looked at him, her eyes swollen with tears.

"This is a fault that will always be with me, Jarod, whatever you say."

"I undestand that…" he continued. "But you made amends. You're doing now, here, with me. Letting me love you, watching these videos, holding me like you're doing right now."

"I loved him…Why should I be so fooled? I believed my father's lies, Raines's, The Centre's…"

Jarod smiled and caressed her face with his hands "Because you didn't remember who you really are. Now, you do."

Parker nodded, this time a bit more convinced "I need a drink, if we must get through this stuff."

Jarod smiled: that was _his_ "hunter".

"Let's have a break, some air will do you good, sweetheart."

As soon as he called her that way, he regretted it. But Parker didn't replied, nor she gave any sign that the thing had annoyed her. So Jarod dared more. While she was taking her coat to get out, he called her "Let's go, _Charlie_."

Parker stared at him, now in full possession of her mental faculties.

"Now you're risking your own life!"

Jarod snickered.

* * *

The air outside the house was cool and warm at the same time. Parker was convinced that as soon as she and Jarod would leave the place, everything would have become cold and dark again, like The Centre.

She wore her sunglasses and walked, her arms folded and a silent Jarod next to her. He was trying to guess what was in her mind, but it wasn't easy to decipher that den of emotions known as Miss Parker. For him, it has been easy to accept the truth about The Centre, which was a horrible place to run from, but for her it couldn't be easy at all, it would have never.

And realizing that maybe they have done them a brainwashing to lose important pieces of their past, it was the final straw.

Jarod couldn't stand to see Miss Parker reduced to a question mark. They both needed to know.

"Give me your phone." he said, with no further explanation.

"Who are you calling, the priest?" she asked, sarcastic as usual.

"I've always had my own personal confessor, down in hell…" he explained.

Jarod waited for Sydney to answer. When he heard his mentor pronouncing his own name, as he always used to do when he answered the phone, Jarod put in speakerphone Miss Parker's mobile.

"Sydney, we've got something important to ask you." Jarod said, gravely and seriously "Both of us."

Parker cleared her throat "Hello, Sydney."

"Parker, such a pleasure to hear your voice…Are you okay?" he asked her, as any father would have asked a daughter he hadn't seen for a few days and for whom was worried about.

"No Sydney. I'm not okay. Jarod and I…We're remembering things. Things we didn't even know we had lived, before…" she told him, sorry.

Sydney seized the opportunity to make some offhand psychoanalysis "It is normal that now you're together your subconscious…"

"Come on, Sydney!" Jarod stopped him "This has nothing to do with our childhood traumas, nor our stolen adolescences…We're talking about full memories extracted from our minds and a box full of DSAs stolen from The Centre by my mother years ago!"

Sydney goggled, while a breathless Broots was getting inside his office.

"What do you mean?"

"Syd, did they ever make experiments on me to…make me forget things I've had lived?"

"That I know the only time that happened…was when they removed the memory of the dialogue you've had with Catherine about your brother, Ethan."

Jarod and Parker looked at each other. Ethan was still missing, somewhere. One of the persons they would have to find and keep safe, once they'd go away from that manor.

"So you reckon it is impossible that they do this for other…memories?" Miss Parker asked.

"Not that I know."

"Miss Parker!" interjected Broots "What the hell are you doing with Jarod?! Did I miss something?" he asked, looking at Sydney suspiciously.

"There's no time for explanations and compliments, Mr. Broots, but we need you to do us a favour." Jarod said.

Broots sighed, thinking about all the times that man had helped him. It was because of him that Debbie was entrusted to him and not his ex-wife. It was because of Jarod that he was still alive.

"Whatever you need." he answered.

"Search for any information about The Centre projects for memory manipulation. I think that many answers we're still looking for could depend on this."

"What are you doing meanwhile?" Sydney questioned.

Jarod glanced at Miss Parker, who seemed still too much upset to talk.

"We'll try…to remember more."

Jarod ended the call and gave the mobile back to Parker. She held him tenderly and she let him stroke her hair, thinking that it was so reassuring to have him finally by her side.

Everything would be easier, even searching for secrets. There wouldn't be any more of the "I help you, if you help me" game that they had been playing for years. From that moment on, they would help each other.

"Are you ready to see other videos?"

"No. There are too many terrible things there." she replied.

"But there are also beautiful ones. You'd define terrible that wonderful moment when you talked to me about your mother's watch?"

"No…" she whispered "But the Angelo's one, It was…"

Jarod planted a kiss on her forehead, then took her hand and led her inside the house.

* * *

Jarod took another chair, to let them both sit in front of the viewer. Holding Parker's hand, he inserted another DSA inside the computer. Before starting it, he asked her "Ready?"

She nodded, trying to smile. But she was actually terrorized.

The date of the third disk was set to 12/24/1975.

…

_Jarod was in the huge room where they often let him during breaks from simulations. He sat at a table and he was writing a note to be attached to a Christmas present._

_A few seconds after the beginning of the video, a couple of female hands covered Jarod's face and young Miss Parker, almost fifteen, brought her mouth near his right ear._

"_Guess who?" she asked._

_Jarod smiled in surprise "Miss Parker! I knew you'd come!" he shouted, stifling the great emotion he had in seeing her after so many months. _

"_You thought I wouldn't have visited you to wish you Merry Christmas?" she asked, sitting next to him._

"_How are your studies coming along?"_

"_Boring" she answered, snorting "I can't fit in yet. They all have a weird accent in London, and everybody's so serious. Besides, daddy ordered me not to talk about The Centre, nor you, so I can't tell anyone about our adventures…"_

_Jarod hung on her words, but from the look on his face you couldn't tell if he actually had heard anything of what Miss Parker just said. He was like into a trance. _

"_Where's your father now?" he asked then, forced himself out his torpor. _

_The girl shook her head, a bit saddened "Business trip, as usual. He left me home alone, but I was dying to see you. I came home yesterday for my Christmas holidays, so we could spend them together…"_

"_I'd love to…Sydney's gone too" Jarod said "Every year he disappeared at Christmas, and I don't even understand where he goes!"_

_Parker didn't want to reveal him that maybe he had a family outside The Centre, with whom he could be spending the holidays, she didn't want to disappoint Jarod._

"_I've got a present for you, by the way!" she said, taking a little package from her coat pocket._

_Jarod couldn't believe his eyes. So she thought about him, even if she was so far!_

"_I've got a small gift for you too…" he answered, giving her the note he was writing a few seconds before._

_Parker took the paper and read. It was a poem entitled "To my best friend"._

_**You're far and everything is fading,**_

_**Memories stay, but everything's ending.**_

_**If only I could see your eyes, **_

_**At least once again,**_

_**I could loose myself into their deep blue sea.**_

_Jarod just blushed a bit, while the girl was reading "I'm sorry, but here I couldn't get a real present for you"_

"_Jarod, this is wonderful" she said, her eyes close to tears. She had missed very much that lovely and naive boy. "Come on, now open mine!"_

_Jarod smiled and took the cover from the package. Inside there was a little twig coming from a strange plant that he had never seen before._

"_What's that?" he asked, curious. Miss Parker saw his pretending skills when she realized he was observing the twig with huge interest. _

"_It is called mistletoe, Jarod. It's a plant used mostly at Christmas, they usually hang it on the ceiling, like that…"_

_Parker took his hand and leaded him towards the wall, where there was a shelf where she could hang the mistletoe. _

"_What is it for?" the boy asked._

_Parker came closer to him "When people meet under the mistletoe…Usually they kiss to wish each other Merry Christmas."_

_Jarod couldn't avoid noticing that her voice had just lowered, so as her eyes, looking with discretion at the floor. Did Miss Parker feel actually embarrassed?_

_Jarod, who now was much higher than her, leaned over her and kissed her on the cheek, finding her unprepared. _

"_Is that right?" he asked, experiencing that new discover immediately. _

_Miss Parker smiled and stood on her tiptoe, then she dragged him to herself and kissed him again, this time pointing directly to his lips, as she had already done before. But this time, she was older, more aware. So she gave him a true kiss, putting also her hands on his face. Jarod, on his hand, responded pleasantly surprised and placed his hands on her hips. When the girl left him, she lowered and smiled. Jarod didn't know what to say. And then his watch gave the time, making them understand it was midnight. _

"_Merry Christmas, Jarod."_

"_Merry Christmas, Miss Parker."_

…

The disk faded into black. Miss Parker's hand was still holding Jarod's one with a considerable pressure, so that he could feel her heart beating fast and strong through her veins.

This time he was the one with a tear to his eye. He didn't want her to notice that, but he was touched and excited, just like he was the day they shared that kiss.

"All these years I've thought…You had left and hadn't looked for me…That you had left the Centre and…me…"

She was stunned, a lump in her throat didn't allow her to speak.

"I'm going to destroy the people who stole these memories from us. I'll make them pay, Parker."

"But now, here they are." she whispered. She was happy because she had seen that disk and she wanted to thank Jarod who had given her the courage to watch those lost DSAs.

* * *

Jarod and Parker went on for hours watching those disks. There were not many, but every time they watched a new one, they needed some time to assimilate it and trying to remember _on their own_ what the videos had captured. Sometimes it was a kiss, others a childish speech; sometimes they were moments of them playing with Angelo, others were fleeting encounters they had while Parker was studying in London and came back to The Centre for visiting.

But all those videos brought them back to a great truth: they really loved each other for years, until something had parted them. Or _somebody_. Someone who wanted to separate them not only physically but also mentally. Someone who knew that the two of them, together, would have been a risk for The Centre. So, once Jarod became seventeen and Parker sixteen, their meetings became a menace and the love they felt for each other had to be deleted like a file from a computer. Hypnosis, maybe drugs, brain inceptions. Somehow, they did it.

But they failed in a detail: Jarod stole the Centre DSAs and hadn't forgotten that "girl who gave him his first kiss". So as Parker hadn't forgotten the only friend she'd ever had, as a child.

According to Jarod, the work had been accurate and precise, but had damaged only the memories from 1971 onwards. Why the previous ones had resisted?

"I guess it was impossible for them to unhinge all we things remembered. Probably in the childhood years the events we live are imprinted in our memory in a latent state, and that's why we often think about them when we get older." Jarod explained to Parker.

"So why you did remember about the watch, while I couldn't?" she asked him.

"Because I _found_ that watch in your mother's safe deposit boxes, and that must have stimulated my memory to remember that particular event.";

"You mean that if I'd ever seen some mistletoe I would have remembered about our…second kiss? Jarod, so many years had passed, I must have seen some other in my all life, since then!"

"It's an unknown territory for me too, Parker. I've never felt so powerless before."

In the metallic box found in the attic, there were still two videos.

"Do you feel up to watching another one?"

Parker agreed and this time she was the one who put the disk in the viewer.

The date was set to 12/31/1976. Parker wasn't amazed: most of those videos had been shot during Christmas Holidays, the only moment when she came back from London.

…

_Jarod was in his room. Another year had passed, but finally Parker had arrived. He spent many months wondering about what they would say to each other in those few days they could stay together, but every time she showed up at his door, he had never the courage to tell her the truth about his great feelings for her. Jarod's room door opened and Parker came in wearing a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. Her look had definitely changed than when she was a ten-year-old child._

"_I made it, Jarod, here I am! Daddy is going to spend the New Year's Eve away, he'll never know I'm here with you."_

"_I'm glad, Miss Parker. The Centre is always empty and desolate the last day of the year. It's few of us and I can't celebrate with anyone. What do people usually do at New Year's Eve?" he asked her._

"_Well, almost everywhere there are fireworks. And when midnight comes we usually wish one another happy new year. Some people also make New Year's resolutions…"_

"_Resolutions?" he asked, curious. _

"_It's like a list of good intentions. For example, I'd love to see you more the next year. What would you wish?"_

_Jarod tightened his eyes "I'd love to see my mother and father. Just once."_

"_Jarod" she murmured "They are…"_

"_Dead, I know" he replied "But not in my head. I always feel them, even if I can't remember their faces anymore."_

_Parker tried to comfort him "You've got Sydney, at least, while I haven't got even daddy anymore."_

_The sixteen-year-old girl became sad. A few days later she would be seventeen and her father wouldn't even remember her birthday._

"_You've got me." Jarod answered, holding her hand. She smiled, slightly embarrassed, then she looked at her watch. It was 11.59._

"_So, Jarod, what do you hope for this New Year? It's almost coming…"_

_Jarod smiled "I guess a...kiss, would be the best thing to close the old year and begin the new one"_

_Miss Parker looked at him mischievously "You didn't even need to ask…"_

_She eagerly dragged Jarod to her and kissed him just when midnight stroke. _

"_You know." she whispered "There's an old saying in Europe: what you do at New Year's Eve, you'll do it the whole year."_

"_It means that you're staying here, kissing me for the next 365 days?" Jarod asked, forgetting all his shame._

"_I'd want to ask daddy…to let me stay here" she said, while stroking his hair "I could invent an excuse and come back to Blue Cove…And then I could get you out of here and we both could get away, together, as we've always said…"_

_Jarod stared at her "You'd do that…for me?"_

_She nodded gently._

"_Why?"_

"_Because…I've been in love with you since the firs time I saw you." _

_Jarod kissed her again and this was the first time he felt something different, inside. How could he define it, desire? That was not a sim: those were real feelings, that he was feeling for a girl, no, a woman…a true woman. They were different from the others, he knew that by then. They shared a secret, they grew before the time. And now he wanted to demonstrate to himself that his come-too-soon maturity could also be positive, to them. _

_He took Miss Parker's hand and led her towards his bed, whispering something to her ear that couldn't be heard in the video. But the girl smiled and nodded, sighing. _

_Jarod smiled too, then he said "But I've never…"_

_Miss Parker neglected any delay and ran towards the door, locking it. How could she know that they have at least ten cameras on them?_

_Then she reached Jarod and lay on the bed next to him. Then the boy turned off the light. _

…

Parker still had a hand on her mouth, when the DSA finished. Jarod, instead, had his one on his forehead and stood up in a huge anger, throwing the chair to the floor with such strength that he truly scared Parker.

He was breathing noisily, as if he had to retain all the heat he had repressed. He ran towards the kitchen and started to throw everything he could reach: glasses, cutlery, plates. Parker listened to him complaining and screaming, but she couldn't do anything to help him. She was feeling the same way and she knew that Jarod needed to get it off his chest.

When she realized the noises had finished and he had stopped shouting, she reached him in the kitchen. He was leaning on the kitchen island and he was keeping his hands on his head to hide it between his arms.

Parker approached him silently and held him from behind, wrapping her arms around his chest.

"All these years…" he finally said "All these years…"

"I know." she said "It hurts."

Jarod turned around and looked at her: she seemed distressed too because of what they've found out.

"You loved me…You've always loved me…We loved each other for years, how come we don't remember anything?" he shouted. Parker shook her head: she had no idea.

"Almost twenty years later you came back to The Centre, ready to hunt me, trained to hate me, to distrust me, to find me like a…prey. As if you hadn't known me at all…" he continued, adding to it, "I reckon they made a more accurate job with you, rather than me."

That was what she was thinking too. She had been convinced of that since they had found those damned DSAs.

"We had…" Jarod said, still thinking about the video.

Parker tried to smile. "I know, isn't it great?"

Then Jarod burst into a little laugh and held her. He realized how much he needed her, in that moment.

"I propose you this deal: now we go upstairs and I'm going to make love with you until that memory will be back in my mind…"

"To stimulate your memory, clearly." she said, ironic.

"And then we'll see the last video, hoping that it won't reveal we also had a child, back in '76." Jarod continued, sarcastically.

"We can work on it now, you know…we are not out of training." she answered.

Jarod couldn't wait a second more. Those words had intrigued him so much that he felt he could lay the woman he loved on that kitchen island not to waste more time to reach the bedroom. He kissed her with passion, almost biting her lips such was his necessity to do it.

"Come with me, Boy Wonder." she whispered, leading him towards the bedroom.

* * *

If you're reading, I hope to have comments too! Even if you want to insult me! And I'd love to know how does it seem to you and how you feel about it!


	4. Chapter 4: Zoe's Moan and Revelations

**DISCLAIMER**

First of all, thanks a lot to Antoinette, my lovely beta reader, she's helping me with the translation... Once again, forgive my lacks with the language! :) I hope I did a good work anyway, and I'd also love to have some opinion from you. This chapter was very fun to write because I do hate the character appearing in the lines you're going to read. So if there's any Zoe fan...Time to go away!

* * *

**Chapter 4: Zoe's Moan and Revelations**

**CATHERINE PARKER'S MANOR **

**10.19 p.m.**

Even if the memory of their "first time" at The Centre hadn't returned immediately after watching the video, Jarod got what he wanted. After a few hours spent together in the bedroom, he was standing awake to watch her sleeping, relaxed and satisfied. While he stroked her soft and warm shoulders, he finally remembered everything. Even that night of many years before he had made the very same gesture. He had stroked her without closing his eyes, because of the great excitement he experienced in making love with her.

Now, instead, he wondered who might have watched those DSAs. They might have been in everyone's hands, from security technicians assigned to his bedroom to Mr. Raines and Mr. Parker. The only one he could bet on was Sydney: he could have never lied about such an important thing, unless they had brainwashed him too…

Parker opened her eyes, smiling for her bedfellow's delicate and kind touch.

"Did you remember anything?" she asked, without turning.

"Every detail. Now everything's back in its right place."

Parker turned to talk without having her back to him "It's more difficult to me…Some moments are deeper than others, anyway."

Jarod was dying to reveal something to her, but he didn't know if that was the right moment and place. He feared he could make her jealous. But she was feeling his inner uneasiness.

"Whatever it is, you can tell me…"

He nodded, but he kept his face lowered for the shame.

"You remember the woman I met in Oregon, Nia Pedron?" he whispered, fearing the worst.

She flared up when she listened to the name of another woman, especially _that_ woman.

"I was sure that…well…that I had my first time with her." he explained, getting that off his chest.

Parker nervously ran a hand on her eyes, then she brushed aside a wisp.

"Jarod, you don't owe me any explanation." she tried to stopped him. She wasn't sure she wanted to hear anything else.

"No, I must say this, Parker…I'm sorry I forgot…"

Miss Parker couldn't believe her ears: that man was really apologizing because he didn't remember something that had been stolen by him by force?

"Jarod…What should **I** say!?"

"What do you mean?"

"Come on, I'm far from being Mother Theresa! We can't keep hanging on to the past, or we'll get crazy! We both had experiences, that's not a secret. But what matters is that _now_ we are here, together…God, you were the one who sent me Tommy, can you realize that?" she asked, a bit upset.

Jarod slowly nodded "And today I am ashamed because if I could go back…I wouldn't have."

Parker slightly winced "Jarod…You'd have done it, because you couldn't imagine what we had shared before. None of us could…Our luck is that we've always kept this bond between us, which sometimes took us farther, sometimes nearer each other, as if we were connected by am invisible rubber band."

"You think that if they hadn't made us forget…You'd have really helped me leave The Centre when I was eighteen? You'd have kept your promise to return to Blue Cove…Because you loved me?"

"I have no doubt: the little Parker of those videos was a bloody impudent girl. She knew what she wanted and she loved you very much, maybe even more than the one you've got here now."

He didn't seem so convinced.

"Jarod, don't you see we unconditionally loved each other? Think about the watch, the friendship with Angelo, think about the blue rose…You filled me with gifts, and once you grew older you started doing the same thing…Sometimes even with that pinch of sarcasm, as when you left me that slide with the flu…"

Jarod smiled at the memory of that trick.

"But other times they were sweet and delicate, like that candy you asked me to be your Valentine with. I'll tell you a secret: I sweated blood not to shout at you to run to my house, that night."

…

"_They say it is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all. Do you believe that's true?"_

_Jarod called Miss Parker, as he often did when it was late at night. He liked to hear her voice before going to sleep, he felt less homesick for the past and less afraid of the future. _

"_If you're lonely, call a 900 number!" she answered, sarcastic as usual. Jarod hated her way of doing, but most of the times he ignored her jokes and tried to make her think._

"_Did you read my book?"_

"_I skimmed through it. You paint a pretty sad picture."_

"_I just write the way I see it. How did we end up like this?" he asked her, in a whisper. _

"_Like what?" she answered, guessing what the Boy Genius was driving at._

"_Alone, searching. It's ironic, because we both want the same things. Someone to care about, someone to care about us." _

_Parker was literally melting at Jarod's words, but she couldn't and didn't want to show it. Her relationship with her prey had to be aseptic and impersonal._

"_Do you think we'll ever find the kind of love in our lives?" he naively asked her, hoping that he would receive a sincere answer, from her._

_Parker hesitated a second, breathing fast, but with her heart pounding. Her deep inner self wanted to answer that they might look for that answer together, but obviously her reason got the upper hand. _

"_What the hell do you want from me Jarod?" she finally answered, pretending she was angry._

_Jarod shook his face, finding himself facing the wall that woman had raised against him. _

"_Open the box!" he concluded, with anger._

_Then Miss Parker found the "Be my Valentine" candy inside the little container. That was a veiled request, but also so clear. Did Jarod still feel something for her?_

_She didn't want to think about that. She took the chocolate and ate it, wondering where he was in that moment…_

…

Jarod laughed and kissed her.

"The point is: forget the past, Jarod. Let's take these beautiful memories we had the chance to live again as a new beginning. Not everyone is given a second chance."

Jarod nodded and kept quiet for a while, lying down and with his head on the pillow, staring at the ceiling.

Parker was burning with curiosity: since Jarod had mentioned _her_, she wanted to ask him what happened to her.

"Jarod…What about Zoe?" she asked him, leaning on her elbow to hold her head.

Jarod just stared at her, with no move. He didn't feel at ease talking about that with Miss Parker. So he snorted.

"Come on, you can tell me…I talk to you about Tommy, you've always helped me to do it…"

Maybe she was right. He had to tell her the truth. He raised himself, to look her in the face.

"Zoe was kidnapped by The Centre, you know" he started to tell, noticing that she was nodding "By Cox and Lyle…They used her to lure me…I've been able to set her free just thanks to my dad, because I was too much involved in Ethan's research…"

Parker thought about those moments, but she didn't want to interrupt.

"A few days later, I went looking for Zoe to set matters straight. I was determined to tell her everything about The Centre and tell her the truth about my family, about you…You know, I…felt for her."

Those words hurt her, but she didn't show, she didn't have the right.

"We met a few days before my departure for Carthis. I explained to her what I had found out about our mothers, and I asked her to be patient, because I had to leave for Scotland. Without realizing that I was talking to her about you too…"

…

_Zoe was sitting on the couch with Jarod and she was listening to him telling all the details about his anomalous relationship with Miss Parker. _

"_She's always been my friend, when we were kids. She's the only connection I have with that place, aside Sydney…"_

"_A bond…To the person who's been hunting you for five years?" she asked, a bit perplexed. _

_Jarod sighed. How could he make her understand the deep affection that linked him to Miss Parker?_

_Zoe, on the other hand, had realized that Jarod's thoughts weren't the ones a man feels for his playfellow. She felt very jealous, in that moment._

"_I help her to discover what happened to her mother…I give her clues to find the truth and to open her eyes about The Centre, but I don't always succeed…I often call her to talk, to tell her about me, about her, or about our shared past…"_

_Zoe licked her lips, feeling the tension growing. So Jarod often called Miss Parker, but he never found the time to phone her?_

"_Jarod…it seems to me that you overestimate the importance of this woman to you. She always treated you like a fugitive to chase and capture…Her brother kidnapped me, and…"_

"_She has nothing to do with Lyle!" he shouted, feeling that he had to stand up for Miss Parker. And who knew why. Zoe shut up suddenly. _

"_Whatever I find out on that island, I'll have to let her share in…To…"_

"_Help her, I got it!" she concluded. She stood up and put her hands on her hips. Jarod looked at her without understanding her behavior. _

"_Jarod…Do you realize you've been talking about this woman for half-an-hour, by now?"_

"_I'm sorry, I thought you wanted to know everything about…_

"_You" she stopped him "About your life, about who you really are…Not about the woman you had a huge crush for when you were a kid!"_

_Jarod felt something flaring up, inside. Even if he had to admit he felt something for Miss Parker for almost his whole life, Zoe wasn't allowed to belittle it that way. How could she dare define it a "crush"?_

_Guessing that she had to change the argument, Zoe turned the conversation "I want to stay with you, Jarod…I want to go with you on that island…"_

"_No way!" he replied "It's too dangerous, and that's none of your business…"_

_As soon as he said those words, he repented. He knew Zoe was hurt, but he still had a weight on his chest and he wanted to take revenge because she defined him a teenager with-the-easy-crush. _

"_I'm sorry, Zoe…But The Centre might be there. I don't want them to find you with me, they could use you again against me. And I care for you too much to see that happened…"_

_She nodded, a bit cheered up, but also sad because of his lack of trust. She held him and stroked his hair._

"_I love you, Jarod." she confessed him. He didn't answer, his thought fixed on a twelve-year-old girl with brown hair…_

…

"When I left for Carthis, I didn't regret leaving her at home…You were on that island, and at least I didn't run the risk that she was kidnapped by The Centre again…Then something changed."

"What?" she asked, sensing that her moment was coming, but anxious to hear him saying that.

Jarod approached her until they were practically nose to nose, but without touching her "You almost kissed me…" he whispered.

Parker smiled, and that was one of the first times in her life that she flushed as an eleven-year-old girl.

"Once I was back in the States, I started to realize what I was feeling for you. Inside I'd been trying to deny it so many times, mostly because you persist in not wanting to change. But after the island, I couldn't stop thinking about you…You had pushed me away…" he stopped, thinking about that conversation inside the car, when Parker had withdrawn her hand from Jarod's "And yet you came on that plane, and in so doing…you saved my life."

"I needed answers." she tried to say.

"That's not true. I had persuaded you to make sense of those days, made you realize that the ending of the story was up to you. When you appeared in the aircraft hold, my heart just jumped. I didn't say anything, we were surrounded by my arch-chasers, but…in that moment I understood you loved me too…"

Parker nodded, smiling. That was all damned true: if she had boarded that plane it hadn't been just to find out who her father really was and to save the Scrolls…She had done it especially because of Jarod.

She stroked his face, almost to thank him for those beautiful words.

"And Zoe?" Miss Parker asked, realizing that she felt almost sorry for her.

"Even if my real feelings had come to the surface, I've tried to ignore them for a while. That's why you hadn't heard from me for months, I needed to take a break from The Centre, from Sydney, from you. I couldn't admit to myself that I was in love with the only woman who was forbidden to me, the only one I couldn't win. So I decided to try to hang around with Zoe, at least to clear my head…"

…

_She had greeted him warmly, kissing him and saying how happy she was that Jarod had seen his mother again, even if for a few seconds._

_Jarod told her everything, trying to leave out a little detail: Parker's presence on the island. _

"_Jarod, who was there with you? "We" went at Ocee's, "we" found the ruins of the crypt keeper's cottage, "we" found the Scrolls. But who's "we"? Did your father come with you?" _

"_I haven't seen him in a few days…And I don't believe you really wanna know the answer…" he explained. After all, he had to be honest with her, if he wanted it to work. _

_But Zoe quickly realized "Miss Parker…"_

_Jarod nodded._

"_Zoe, nothing happened!" he lied, to her and to himself. He knew perfectly well that almost-kiss meant much more than any other relationship he had ever had with any other woman._

"_Of course, a night alone on a desert island and nothing happened!"_

"_Zoe!" he screamed, anyway upset by the fact she questioned his loyalty. But was he really upset? If they hadn't been interrupted by Ocee, in that special moment…What would have happened? _

"_Jarod…Can you realize…that you're in love with that woman?"_

_Jarod shut up and tried to silence that thing he had on his chest that he felt whenever someone mentioned Miss Parker. As when Broots believed she was responsible for framing him at the Data Annex and he stood up for her. As when, at the bank, he ordered the thief to let her go. As when, on the island, they almost kissed…_

"_Jarod, I love you…But I can't share you with another woman, so I need to know…Do you love her?"_

_Jarod was moving his eyes fast, while dozens of memories filled up his brain. Those of when they were kids atThe Centre, but also the ones as adults. Their phone calls. The tense silences full of emotions. The sarcastic jokes that brightened his days. The way Parker got mad when he hid from her the truth and offered it with his mental games. Those moments when they found themselves forced to be together somewhere. His surprise visits to help her find the truth about Thomas…He couldn't pretend anymore: the truth was only one._

"_I've always loved her." he answered, more himself than Zoe._

_She gave an impatient sigh. She was crying._

"_Zoe…" he whispered._

"_No, Jarod…I don't want to hear anymore…I can't be number two, I deserve more!"_

_He hugged her "You deserve much more…You deserve a man who loves you for the great strength you communicate…"_

"_But I wanted __**you**__ to be that man!" she whispered, complaining. _

_Jarod dried her tears "I'm sorry Zoe…But I can't lie to myself anymore: I love Parker…"_

_That revelation caught him off guard, but he couldn't help but smile at the idea. _

"_How could you love the woman who has chased you all this time?" Zoe asked, disappointed. _

_Jarod grimaced "She would have never caught me if I hadn't left her souvenirs everywhere…"_

_Zoe flared up at the idea. Therefore Jarod wanted her to follow him on purpose, so that she could find him!_

"_I love you Zoe, you can always count on me, whatever happens…And promise me you'll take care of yourself and of your condition." he asked her, thinking about her cancer._

_She nodded, still crying. Then she took her bag and went towards the door. _

"_What will you do when you tell her you love her…And in reply she'll take you back to The Centre?" she asked him, angry._

_Jarod contemplated the idea: he wasn't sure he could make Miss Parker surrender and admit her feelings. And yet, he had to try._

"_I'll go back to run, and she'll go back to chase" he answered her, winking. _

…

Even if Miss Parker felt like if she just won the lottery, she didn't want Jarod to think badly of her. After all, Zoe never did anything to her, she just got Jarod's attention during a period when the two of them hadn't seen each other much and she made him happy, for a while. But she could never break the bond between them.

"You miss her?" Parker asked, playing the victim of the situation.

Jarod cunningly looked at her, realizing that she wanted to draw him in a trap to see how he would come out.

"I'll always love her" he answered "But as a friend…Anyway, I doubt that she'll look for me, she's too much stubborn to do so."

"And will you? Maybe one day you're going to get tired of me and you'll wish to go back and live all the adventures you had with her…"

Jarod got closer "Never heard a more foolish nonsense…Getting tired of you? If I could, I'd live every second I have losing myself inside your eyes…"

Parker kissed him "You're too sweet to me…"

"Just because I love you too damn much…And because you're wonderful. And lethal!"

"Mmm…the last adjective is the one I prefer…" she answered, kissing and holding him.

He held her for a while, happy because that embarrassing confessions moment was over. Then he came back to their present and what they had to do.

"You realize that The Centre must have had a very good reason to divide us and do that to us?"

She nodded sadly.

"And you realize…that if we were able to be together so much in those years it was just because those videos of our adolescence were used to study my reactions…and maybe even yours?"

"We were two perfect Lab-Rats: the Pretender and the girl with inner sense…" she whispered.

Jarod suddenly was reminded something.

"Alex told me!" he screamed.

"What?" she asked.

…

"_Jarod, you turned a routine Triumvirate assignment into something wonderfully personal to me…"_

_Alex was talking through the bars separating him from Jarod, who was hurt and tired for his chasing._

"_Luring you was simple. It's that flaw in your character that made it so easy. Always risking your life for somebody who's not important to you world."_

_Then Jarod got mad and stood up, charging the iron gate "The Ambassador is important to the world!" he shouted._

_But Alex seemed amused "Not the world. Your world. The Swedish Ambassador? She's nothing to your world."_

_Jarod was laying his head at the wall, shattered and unable to respond, when Alex reeled off the one he considered the most important truth. _

"_But Miss Parker is."_

_Jarod looked up at him, his eyes might have incinerate Alex with a glance. How could he possibly know about her? Did he know her? Did he have any plans, for her? _

"_In fact, you have no idea how important to your life she really is…"_

_Jarod stared at him, more and more worried, wide-eyed for the anger._

"_And after today, you'll never know."_

_Alex ran away, while Jarod stood up and charged the iron gate calling his name to make him come back._

…

"So this is why you came to save me?" she asked, stroke by his story.

"Yes. He drove me mad, I couldn't control myself anymore. When I realized he wanted to reach you to hurt me, I couldn't help but run to find you!"

"Oh, Jarod." she whispered, realizing how sweet and in love he was, while she was stupid and arrogant. She thought he deserved a respectable kiss, in that moment.

"Anyway" he continued, tearing away from her and clearing his throat, trying not to fall into the temptation of jumping on her again "Uhm…Alex knew a lot. He was the one who told me The Centre didn't want me back just because I'm a pretender. He revealed me how much more important you were to me…Maybe that was the moment I understood."

"Understood what?"

"That I've never stopped loving you…even if a few days before you had pointed a knife on me!"

Thinking about those threats against Jarod, made to convince him to help her find the lost memory about the dialogue he had with Catherine, Parker giggled and put an hand on her forehead.

"Another thing to add to the forgive-me-blacklist." she mumbled.

"You will not believe, maybe…" he replied "But I found your attitude incredibly sexy."

…

"_You look surprised to be here."_

"_Well, I'm surprised I'm still alive…"_

"_Dead men tell no tales."_

_Parker had brought Jarod to a safe place, ready to interrogate him about the DSA they had recovered and that portrayed the meeting he had with Catherine years before. _

"_I'm assuming since we're here, this has nothing to do with Centre business…"_

"_No…"_

_Then Miss Parker took off a knife and menacingly approached Jarod, pointing the blade to his jaw._

"_It's about me. I need your help." _

_The blade went down to the prisoner's chest, securely tied with a rope. The knife movement was slow and almost endearing. _

"_Tell me what I need to know…and you're outta here…"_

"_And I should believe you're going to let me just walk away, hmm?" Jarod asked, intensely looking at her. Sydney was watching the scene in silence, not daring to interrupt. _

_Then Parker cut the rope tying Jarod, trying to gain a bit of trust._

…

"A woman with a blade has her charm." Miss Parker explained.

"Not _any_ woman…My _Ice Queen_. And yet I'm sure that if Sydney wasn't there with you…you would have jumped on me at any time."

Parker wanted to dissent, but honestly she couldn't. Having Jarod tied up, defenseless, in front of her, it had awakened her instinct, that day. Perhaps it was also the memories starting to resurface, but she had shut them up when she cut the rope tying Jarod.

"You looked at me as if you wanted to eat me with your very eyes." he continued, making fun of her.

"I wasn't that crazy about you as I am now!"

"No, you weren't, but there has always been a great attraction between us, I felt it under my skin every time we cross paths, as when we were in that bank, or in Bahia Grande. And you felt it too, you can't deny it."

"Jarod…" she started, smiling "In that bank you were always hanging on my coat-tails…"

"Well…You had such a good perfume, that day. The same you have now." he explained, smelling her scent almost intoxicated.

…

"_I know it's not easy reading those letters…" Jarod said, while he was taking care of Fenigor._

"_Look, I broke into your father's house, trying to find something about my past, but instead, I found out about yours…"_

_Miss Parker was still exhausted by the reading of those letters that she had never received before. _

"_Your mother deserved a better fate than what she got."_

"_You're damn right she did." she interrupted him._

"_She used to send me letters on my birthday, holidays. I never knew about these."_

_Jarod looked at her, no he was contemplating her. When that woman was sad, it was a torture for him to look at her. But she was also damned beautiful every time she was moved by Catherine's memory. _

"_My father paid me a visit this morning, talking about how you taint the memory of my mother with lies."_

"_And you believed him?"_

…

"I hadn't believed him for a long time, Jarod. But it wasn't easy to admit it myself. You were the only one who helped me find the truth about my past. If I had a bit of peace, I owe it to you."

He sighed. It was years he hoped to hear her pronouncing those very words, but it was like a liberation for him, who had tried to open her eyes in any way.

"Why do you think Fenigor lied to us?"

"You mean about your mother's murder?" Jarod asked, thinking about the man's last words, accusing his father of shooting Catherine.

Parker nodded, sadly. After a long talk with Major Charles, she suddenly understood what kind of man he was. He was exactly like his son: loyal, trustful and honest. He could have never touch a hair to the very one person who was trying to help him rescue Jarod.

"I guess we'll never know. Who knows what he was thinking, when he told us my father killed your mother…Without counting that Catherine didn't actually died in that elevator, as we found out later…"

"My mother's execution by Raines is an indelible memory printed in my mind, one of those I'd love to erase." she replied.

"And yet…Sometimes I think about what Ocee told us on the island."

"What?"

…

"_Your mother came to me for herbs." the old woman explained Jarod and Miss Parker, referring to Margaret "Complaining of headaches. But it was easy, even for a blind woman…to see that it was heart that was aching. And that she feared for her life…"_

"_Ocee, what was my mother searching for?" Jarod asked, worried. _

"_To find out who you are."_

"_What do you mean, who I am?" he answered, not knowing about the Scrolls yet._

"_All I know is what she spoke. She and another woman had been trying to discover the truth for a long time. That must have been your mother." Ocee continued, addressing to Miss Parker. _

_She couldn't keep a giggle "You sure you're blind?"_

"_Sight may come from one's eyes but the vision comes from one's heart."_

…

"She was right, you know?" she said "Since I've been learning how to use my inner sense…I've been realizing that even more."

"Ocee spoke with my mother for a long time on the island. Maybe Catherine and her are really together, somewhere…Maybe"

"My mother's still alive…" she continued in a whisper.

She hadn't dare to lug (lug?) the argument, hoping that Jarod would have. But since they went on the Island of Carthis, she had been reminding herself that, despite the video of her murder after Ethan's birth, they had never found her body. And most of all she had trusted Raines to run from her father, she had told Jarod that filthy worm trusted her…May it all have been a plan and may Catherine still have been out there, perhaps with Margaret? The voices didn't talk much, she hadn't learned to distinguish them yet. But her inner sense showed her the way and she couldn't ignore it. They had to watch the last DSA.

Miss Parker stood up and dressed, leaving Jarod dismayed.

"I thought you wanted to wait 'till morning'."

"I feel the key to all could be in that last DSA, Jarod. We have to watch it now."

This time he was the one to be reluctant. He didn't want to find a new wonderful memory lived with Parker that he had forgotten. When she finished putting on her jeans and shirt, she gave him her hand "Come with me. This time I'm going to protect you."

Jarod nodded.

* * *

The last DSA was inserted in the viewer by Parker's trembling hands. As soon as it started, they both realized it was different from the others. It wasn't The Centre, but the house in the woods where Catherine had given birth to Ethan. The video didn't have a precise date, so Jarod and Miss Parker couldn't understand what year it was, at the beginning.

The video was framing an empty couch, suddenly occupied by nothing less than their mothers, Catherine and Margaret.

"My God!" Parker screamed.

"Together!" he echoed her.

...

"My children…" Catherine's voice said, she took the hand of her friend, who couldn't help but crying "If everything went as I'm foreseeing, now you two, our greatest treasures…are together watching this video. You couldn't have found it, unless you were together."

Catherine was smiling. There was no doubt: the video had been shot after 1970. She was thinner than when she had delivered their brother, and she seemed emaciated. Margaret, instead, seemed to have suddenly aged, compared to the beautiful picture Jarod had of hers.

"We don't have much time. We can't tell you everything now, but it's the moment for you to know some important things, which will guide you for the project waiting for you."

Margaret sobbed and held Catherine's hand.

"Jarod, my boy, I know it won't be easy for you to understand this, but you must believe me: if we disappeared, we've done it for your own good…"

Parker sent her partner a soft look.

"Our common friend at The Centre stole these DSAs before they could end up in the wrong hands and disappear. They're the last evidence of the great love that always bonded you, since you were kids. Unfortunately they've decided to delete your memories, and we can't do anything to avoid it, destiny is already being fulfilled"

"But who did it, Catherine?" Jarod asked, as if the woman could answer him.

"Your connection is too much important, my children…" Catherine went on "They want to move you away from one another and make you become enemies. They'll send you, Charlotte, far away. They'll train you and make you be a hunter. While you, Jarod…you'll be forced to go on with your simulations for so many years…"

"Oh, my boy." Margaret whispered. Jarod touched the video tenderly, as if he could feel her mother's skin.

"When you find this video, I hope you already know about the Scrolls." Catherine spoke again. This time it was Jarod who stared at Miss Parker, his heart beating wildly.

"They hold the truth about your future, Jarod. But I foresee that you won't be able to read them soon, because my husband will get in the way between you and truth, as he's always done. I'm sorry darling, but I've always had to lie to you about my relationship with your father, because I couldn't make him discover my big plan."

"But what plan, Mama?"

"The two of you, separate, could never destroy The Centre. But now you're together, the time is ripe. You must continue the project that Margaret and I have started. The Scrolls may reveal your future, but you will have to decide how to make it come true. The Centre destroyed so many lives and it is still so powerful. You'll have to demolish it piece by piece, by unearthing its trades and discovering all those corrupted people who ruined our lives, starting with your father, honey."

Miss Parker was crying.

Then Margaret intervened "I hope you find your brother and sister, Jarod…Catherine and I have moved in shadows for years not to let them discover us: if they found us, they'd kill us without delay. The only way to survive was to fake Catherine's death…But the love I have for your father and you, my children, gives me the strength to go on and fight. Catherine is sure we'll see each other."

The woman smiled, leading Miss Parker to wonder how could she be so strong, after all she had been through.

"You must find your brother, Ethan. I'm sure you'll do everything possible to help him and with him you'll be able to find us. We'll be a family once again. And there's one final thing you should know…"

Margaret squinted, ready for the worst revelation.

"A terrible secret is hidden inside The Centre. Something my inner sense cannot foresee yet. It's like if something born from you two was in the most hidden depth of The Centre."

Another time, Parker and Jarod looked at each other.

"Years will go by, Margaret and I will disappear. Maybe we won't meet for a very long time…" Catherine said, going to the conclusion. "But when it happens, it will be to put an end to The Centre history, I promise my children. Until then…Take care of each other, as you've always done. Jarod, remember the promise you made me…"

He sighed, thinking about how much he'd always taken care of Miss Parker.

"Darling, be strong and trust your inner sense. It'll help you to find Ethan. It'll help you to survive."

"We have to go." Margaret said to her, between a sob and the other "We love you very much…"

After which the women stood up and the camera turned off.

…

Miss Parker didn't know what to say. That revelation was far too much. Although her mother didn't say anything concrete, she confirmed the suspects of the last few days. Stolen memories, lies, the bond with Jarod. Now they knew that everything was happening for a reason.

"You saw them?" Jarod asked, happy as a child.

Parker smiled when she saw him so sweet and vulnerable "Yeah…Jarod, they're out there, and they're waiting for us. We must carry out their work, we're the only ones who can."

"How?" he asked. After so many fights, this one seemed impossible to face.

"I'm coming back to The Centre."

Jarod stood up and started to walk fast, back and forth "No way. You're coming away with me, and we're taking Sydney and Broots too!"

Parker giggled "And then how can we find the truth, Jarod?" She stood up too and reached him, but Jarod was avoiding her gaze.

"Listen, Boy Wonder" he couldn't help but notice her coming back to nicknames "If Broots, Syd and me are inside, we can do some serious damage. Now that we're finally on the same side, we won't investigate separately. It won't be you-send-me-a-clue to make me discover something anymore, but it will be you and me, together, investigating to end this thing!"

"But you're taking risk…If they found out we're cooperating, they'd kill you…"

"You once told me that sometimes, the risks we take are worth it."

"Your father isn't there to protect you anymore. However I've detested him, while he was there I knew that nobody would dare to touch you…Now there are only Lyle…and Raines…" he said, almost growling the last name.

"Well, a brother's always protective of his twin sister, no?"

"Parker…" he replied, not feeling like joking in that moment.

"Jarod, I can take care of myself…We need to investigate on several fronts: we're going to try and discover the truth about the Scrolls…We're going to monitor the Triumvirate's movements, I'll find out if my father – if we want to call him so – is dead or alive, and I'll find those damned Scrolls."

"And what should I do, staying out there, pretending to be someone I'm not as if nothing had changed? I haven't got the strength nor the will to be so selfless. It's the moment to think about myself, and…about us."

"You're absolutely right. In fact, I don't intend to let you run again…I don't want you to disappear without me following you, Jarod." she replied, while smiling.

"Meaning?"

"Well, apparently, nothing will have to change. You run, I chase."

Jarod raised an eyebrow and started to understand what she was talking about. But could that idea work?

"So let me get this…" he said, getting far from her a few steps "I'm running as if nothing had changed…leaving souvenirs for you and Sydney all around the States…"

"And the three of us chase you, exactly."

Jarod came back near her and held her "With the small difference that now, if you find me, you don't take me back to The Centre."

Parker smiled "You really _are_ a Genius, Jarod. But there's a fact: I can't vouch for my brother's good will, he's not sleeping with you."

Jarod laughed. Yes, the thing might work. If Parker and Sydney helped him from inside, with a bit of Broots' computer skills…

"It might work…"

"It _must_ work. And you can look for Ethan in the meantime…I miss him, I need him."

"Me too. He's important to us both, your mother had foreseen that when she was pregnant…but…"

"But?"

"I also need you. I can't just run as I've always done just as we've finally found each other…"

"But you won't have to run from me, Jarod, just from The Centre. And my door is always open for you…It's going to be so cool to find you in my house when I'm coming back from a very intense day spent chasing you!"

Jarod imagined for a while Lyle discovering him and Parker hidden inside her house, maybe after his sister had been traveling the States in the hope of finding him.

"I'll always bring you flowers." he whispered, kissing her.

"Only if they're blue roses." she replied, answering the kiss.

Jarod now was feeling his heart breaking, because he knew that the moment of goodbyes had come.

He stroked her face and stared at her, trying to fix an indelible image of that moment in his memory. He leaned his forehead against hers one again, and just stayed right there for a few seconds, in silence.

"I don't want to leave you." he managed to whisper.

"You have to, sweetheart."

Jarod moved his head and looked at her, smiling. Did she really call him that?

"Be careful…"

Parker smiled "You'll be on the run again, hunted by my brother and Raines…And you come and ask _me_ to be careful?"

Jarod grimaced and moved away, not before giving her a pat on her butt, almost to punish her for the joke. He took the stolen DSAs and put them in the box, then he closed the computer inside its suitcase and took it, ready to go. He reached the door and opened it.

"Uh, Jarod!" she stopped him.

He turned around, standing in the doorway. Parker reached him and put a hand on his chest, intensely looking at him in the eyes.

"I had no doubt you were such a good pretender even under the sheets…"

He burst into laugh and kissed her, then he blended into the night. As he had suddenly appeared in her life two days before, now he had disappeared again.

* * *

If you're reading, I hope to have comments too! Even if you want to insult me! And I'd love to know how does it seem to you and how you feel about it! Many things are still going to happen!


	5. Chapter 5: You Know I Hate Surprises

**DISCLAIMER**

New chapter! This one hasn't got particular developments of the story, but it introduces Jarod's family and some funny phone conversations, as in good old times. I hope you enjoy it!

Thanks to **Antoinette** for the usual help in the translation, Luv ya!

* * *

**Chapter 5: You Know I Hate Surprises**

**CATHERINE PARKER'S MANOR **

**The day after - 8.17 a.m.**

After the phone call of the night before, Sydney had informed her that he and Broots would leave soon and reach her by car, as soon as Broots was sure that Debbie was with her baby-sitter. So she had waited, without sleeping a wink. She tried not to think about the video she had seen a few hours before, she focused herself on Jarod and the future. For the very first time she found herself alone, wondering what would become of her, of them. She already missed him so much to feel the pain due to his absence?

A few minutes after eight, her phone started to ring. She was sure it was Sydney, so she took the phone and answered "What?"

"For once in my life it would be nice to hear you answering in a different way, Parker…"

She smiled with herself. So she wasn't the only one who was missing him, he was feeling the same too.

"Are you already trying to change me?" she asked.

"I wouldn't dare. I love you for who you are, your grumpy side is the one I prefer." Jarod confirmed, having a giggle in response. It was so good to hear her laugh.

"I've never thought I would have ever said this, but…I miss you."

Jarod stood in silence a few seconds, trying to weigh the importance of that revelation. It must have been so difficult to admit it, most of all to herself.

"Miss you too, Parker. But remember you said this first!"

She laughed "Ok, Boy Wonder. Where are you going?" she asked him, realizing that he was in the car by listening the background sounds.

"I must see my family. Explain some things to them …and then I'm going to search for Ethan."

Parker nodded, realizing that Jarod needed to spend some time with his sister and father. If only she could go with him…

"Sydney and Broots are on their way. They need to know too…"

"They're the only ones I trust, except you. But be careful, Parker, don't show your hand…And be prepared to find a good excuse to give Lyle for your absence of these last days…"

"Oh, haven't I told you? I've already figured that out: I'm going to tell him you kidnapped me and dragged me against my will into a house that once belonged to our mother, where you abused me twenty-three times!"

"I thought it was twenty-two!" he replied, amused.

"Did you forget the escapade at the Chinese restaurant?"

Jarod smiled, how could he forget?

"Has it already been said that I love you?" he asked her.

"You'll get tired of repeating that…"

"Don't think so, Parker. I'll be in touch." he concluded, ending the call.

She put the mobile in her pocket and in that very moment Sydney and Broots arrived at the Manor. She heard the noise of a car stopping in front of the house and braking suddenly.

The two men got out of the car and reached the door, they briefly knocked and then got inside, betraying their impatience.

"Miss Parker?" Sydney called. As soon as they were inside, they saw her sitting on the couch. She couldn't wait a second more: she got up and ran towards the man who had been like a father to her while hers (probably not even the _real_ one) pretended to protect her and love her like a daughter.

Sydney wasn't prepared for that kind of reaction, so he was gladly surprised when he felt Parker's arms wrapping his neck and her body holding his into a liberating hug.

He held her and stroked her hair, while an astonished Broots looked at the scene a partly stunned, partly worried. What could have happened in those few days spent with Jarod?

"Are you all right, Miss Parker?"

She sniffed, leaving them to understand that she was going to cry "Yes…I needed you, thank you for coming."

"Sorry if I ask, Miss Parker" Broots intervened, realizing that she was taking his hand and squeezing it, "But are you drugged, by any chance?"

She smiled and shook her head "I've just opened my eyes, Broots" then she turn her gaze to Sydney "Once and for all."

He nodded, ready to listen to her tale.

Sydney had been shocked by Parker's story. Not only because of the buried memories they had erased from her mind and Jarod's, but also when he realized Catherine was still alive and that she had been trying to hide from The Centre all those years.

"This seems a very bad dream…" Broots said, when Parker had finished talking. She needed an hour to explain them all she had found out those days.

"Where are those DSAs now?" Sydney asked.

"Jarod took them away. I think he's going to put them in a safe place…You should have been here with us, Sydney, I think he could really need to talk with you…about what happened."

Sydney smiled "He already did, Miss Parker."

She realized for the first time that then Sydney knew about them. He knew that the two of them loved each other and that they had a…could she call it a relationship?

Sydney's smile couldn't betray his curiosity more. He wanted to know what was going on inside the mind of his so-considered-daughter. He saw her happy and content, for the first time after so many years. She had held the ideal of truth, Jarod had finally been able to bend her defenses and gifted her with the present of happiness.

Broots, on the other hand, had figured out something when he realized that on the table in front of the fireplace there were a few glasses, some of them still containing some unfinished wine.

Parker wasn't ready to reveal everything to her friends, but she felt she had to. The time of secrets and lies was over, she didn't have to be the Ice Queen not showing her feelings to anyone any more. She had to start changing.

"Jarod…He contacted me a few days ago, when I received that e-mail I didn't talk to you about." she started to explain, more to Broots than Sydney "He wanted to meet me to talk."

"And you went there alone, without taking even a Sweeper with you?" Broots asked, more and more convinced that his colleague was under some hallucinogen influence.

"Everything started on Carthis…Jarod and I talked a lot while we were down there and…something turned on for both of us…" she made it short, trying to avoid the more intimate details.

"As soon as we got back," she went on "I knew I had to face the situation to make him understand that it was just a moment of weakness, and that nothing could ever happen between us. But when I met him in New Haven, I couldn't do it…"

Sydney was listening enchanted to Miss Parker's words, Broots was almost heartbroken.

"I guess that if ours was a normal situation…we could say that we…fell in love."

Sydney now was smiling, and even Broots smirked in approval. He had understood years before that all those presents left by Jarod to Miss Parker weren't just games to tease her. How could it be if he actually wanted to disappear and run, he instead made sure that they found him?

"Do you think I'm crazy?" she asked Sydney. The old man understood in that very moment that she, like Jarod, was looking for his blessing. The idea made him proud and happy, because he knew that his children trusted him as nobody else.

"Parker…I've seen you grow up together, then separated. I've followed Jarod because I had to be his guardian, I had to spur him to do his best, even if that was wrong. I was very indulgent with you two, even when you spent hours together talking or playing. I've never told your father or Raines that you were such close friends…"

Parker perfectly remembered the video they saw where Jarod had been called to work by Sydney, who practically ignored the fact that Parker was in his room.

"If I knew that they wanted to separate you and they would oblige you to become enemies, that they would take away from you that little affection life gave to you…I would have opposed it and I'd have tried to get rid of anyone who pursued the idea. And believe me, Parker," he concluded, taking her hands in his, "I've never seen you happier than now. Your destiny is together."

Broots nodded, without being seen. Even if the idea of Miss Parker fooling around with another man would have been unacceptable to him a few months before, he knew perfectly that Jarod was the only one who could make her happy. He remembered how Jarod defended her when he thought she was responsible for sending him to death against Damon.

"What do you think?" she asked Broots, the only friend she had, almost a brother to her.

Broots smiled. "I think Debbie would be glad to hear that her beloved _Auntie Miss Parker_ had finally found someone who makes her happy…"

Miss Parker smiled and felt much more relaxed. The embarrassing part was over, now they could go back to _business_.

"We will never have a future, none of us. Not until we find where those damned Scrolls are, and most of all not until we find a way to make The Centre disappear."

"Where do you want to start?" Sydney asked.

"From the truth." she replied. "My mother talked about a secret hidden inside The Centre, something born from me and Jarod. We must find out what it is. We need to know what they did to us and who made us forget."

"Broots did some research, but still hadn't found anything. It's difficult to dig into a forgotten past, Miss Parker."

"I know, Sydney. But when we needed, we used hypnosis to make Jarod remember, he relived that conversation he had with my mother about Ethan and her big project. Well, this is her project: I must finish her work, I must find a way to make The Centre blow from the inside, something she didn't have an opportunity to do…"

"It's going to be dangerous, for all of us…" Sydney explained.

"That's why I need to know now if you're helping me. I can't promise it's going to be easy, but Jarod and I can't trust anybody else but you."

Sydney nodded. He finally had the chance to get redemption for his past, once and for all. To Broots it wasn't as easy: he had a daughter to think about. But the idea of Debbie was the one who made him answer. "I want a better world for my daughter. A world free from The Centre…"

Parker nodded and the three of them stood up, and headed straight towards the car.

While Broots reached the driver's seat, she closed the manor door behind her and gently touched its wood.

"What are you going to say to Lyle?" Sydney asked her.

"That I was following a track left by Jarod and that our Lab Rat locked me inside a basement for a couple of days, during which I had to wait for you two to find me."

Sydney raised his eyebrow. That didn't seem a quite realistic story.

"Well, we'll work on it on the way home." Miss Parker replied.

* * *

**JACKSONVILLE - Florida**

**5.36 p.m.**

Jarod knew that his father, his sister Emily and the young Jesse lived under the same roof now. He would have loved to go and visit them more often, but in the last months he had been very busy. However he wanted them to be always guarded. He had used his knowledge inside the F.B.I. to guarantee them a certain amount of peace, and he always kept informed about The Centre movements, to verify that nobody in Blue Cove knew their house location.

He didn't want to say anything, not even to Parker, but she didn't want to know, anyway. And that was what he loved madly about her: she understood him with a glance, from the sound of his voice. She didn't ask anything he couldn't answer to.

When his father looked out the door, he almost passed out for the emotion to see his son in front of him. He hadn't seen him since he helped him save Zoe from The Centre.

"Jarod, my boy!" he shouted, holding him. Then he brought him inside the house "Emily, Jes, come and see who just got here!"

Jarod's siblings came running down the stairs. Emily hugged him tightly for a few seconds, trying not to let slip away every single moment spent with him. Jesse on the other hand held out his hand to him in a very polite way.

"Oh, come on Jesse!" Jarod shouted in answer, moving his hand and holding him.

"We missed you, Jarod!" Major Charles said.

"I missed you too…But I'm here with great news and I'm looking forward to tell you what we found out…"

"We?" Emily asked, without missing her brother's embarrassed smile.

"Who were you working with, son?" Major Charles asked, still remembering his too-much-artificial relationship with Zoe. He liked that girl, but she could have never really understood his son.

Jesse was the one who broke the ice "It's Miss Parker…" he said, with a puckish smile on his lips. Jarod was sure he would understand. After all, that boy was a younger version of himself.

"Well…It's a long story…" he tried to divert the conversation.

Major Charles was the only one who truly had something to do with Miss Parker. The only one faced her, and made her doubts about her mother's assassination disappear, making her understand that he wasn't the one who had pulled the trigger. That woman was fascinating and intelligent, she had spent years with Jarod at The Centre, he had seen her in the DSAs his son used to keep more carefully, the ones that were always at hand. As a father, it didn't take long to him to realize that their relationship wasn't the typical one you'd expect between two enemies chasing each other.

Emily, on the other hand, didn't know Miss Parker at all. But she was the only one who had spent some years with Margaret, and her mother used to tell her that between her friend Catherine's daughter and Jarod there was a special connection, and there would always have been. So she didn't have to struggle too much to realize that now, finally, that relationship had taken a different turn. Who was she to judge?

"Time is yours, son…" Major Charles said, inviting Jarod to tell everything.

* * *

Jarod didn't know where to start, but Carthis was a good beginning. He explained them he saw his mother, injured (but not seriously), running from the island. He told them Ocee and the Scrolls' story, hoping that this would awaken something inside Emily or Major's memories (to no avail).

Then he went on talking about the last two months, that he kept looking for answers that never came. Every way he took, impasses, broken hopes. And finally he got to the DSAs they found because of Miss Parker's inner sense, and he realized that his family had the right to see at least the last one, the one portraying Catherine and Margaret together.

After what seemed a long hour of confessions, Jarod finally turned off the computer and waited for them to show what they had assimilated about everything.

Emily was the first to speak "Jarod…I swear that in the few years I spent with Mum, she never told me about Catherine being still alive, neither about the Scrolls."

Jarod nodded, and after a bit said "I guess she was trying to protect you. She didn't want you to run the risk of being kidnapped by The Centre too…"

"This is incredible, boy…How can we fight an enemy so sly to delete two adolescents' memories just to put the one against the other?"

Jarod shook his head "I've been fighting them all my life, dad…Now I won't do that alone anymore. We've got someone inside that will help, finally."

"Miss Parker? Isn't it going to be dangerous?" Jesse asked, still feeling a huge affection for that woman who reassured and consoled him when he needed.

"Yes, Jes. But she's going to have Sydney and Broots to help her. And me too…I'm going to keep my eyes open on everything happening at The Centre, from now on…I feel there will be big changes…"

"What do you mean with _keep your eyes open_?" Major Charles asked.

"I'm going to move permanently to Blue Cove"

"Jarod, are you crazy?" Emily screamed, standing up angry "Going to the closest place to hell? What if they found you?"

"Precisely because I'll be so close" he reassured her, stroking her arms "They won't find me. Everytime I went close to The Centre, I was in safe. Should you know how many times I went _inside_, The Centre…"

Emily couldn't stand any more words. She moved towards the garden in silence, upset, and Jarod couldn't stop her. Jesse had known his sister for a while and now he was starting to understand her silences and discomforts. She had spent years looking for her family, and she didn't want to lose it again, now that they were reunited again.

"She needs time, Jarod. She's still upset from all of this, and she misses her mother."

"I miss her too, but if I'm doing all of this it's for us, for us to be free to live without hiding anymore."

The Major nodded and began to move to his daughter, but Jarod stopped him "I'll talk to her."

"Jes, come with me, let's do something for dinner…"

Jarod went out in the garden, where he found Emily sitting on a porch swing they had just bought. The girl loved to spend her evenings out there, especially when it wasn't too hot and there was a gentle breeze coming from the sea.

Jarod sat next to her, waiting for her to speak.

"You're doing this for her, aren't you?" she asked him.

Jarod smiled "Yes, maybe you're right…"

"How could you love the person who chased you for years?"

"It's the very same thing Zoe asked me." Jarod explained, and he already knew the answer to that question "Miss Parker would have never found me if it wasn't for me: I always left her the right clues. Even if I didn't know that yet, I've always loved her. I always wanted to see her, just as much as I wanted to find you."

"We're your family, Jarod! It's her fault if we got separated! Indeed I reckon it's just a trick to dupe you and take you back to The Centre."

"You don't really think so…" Jarod replied, taking her hand "Think, Emily…What did Mum tell you about her, about Catherine?"

Emily snorted "She said…that Miss Parker was a special girl…And she was happy because you had at least one friend, at The Centre."

Jarod smiled. Now he recognized the sister he had always wanted.

"She _is_ special, Emily. All these years she was a prisoner of The Centre, just like me. They took her away from her mother, she lived almost like an orphan, wandering in the sublevels of that awful place, even if she was a free child. She became my best friend and she gave me strength, we cared for each other and…we loved each other since."

"Why did you forget, then?"

Jarod sighed "They made me…But now…I don't want to forget anything anymore. I just want to think about our future and to do so I must go back to Blue Cove. There is where I can be enough close to infiltrate The Centre. Parker will protect me, believe me. And so will Sydney."

Emily didn't like it when Jarod talked about the man who instructed him for years to be a pretender. And yet her father had told her that probably, if it weren't for Sydney, Jarod would have become a terrible person and not the amazing man who helped others without asking anything in return.

"Trust me, Emily. I need time, but I'll fix everything. This time I know I can do this…"

Emily looked at him, almost crying "You're bringing Mum back home?" she begged him.

"I promise."

* * *

After a day spent with his family, Jarod had left. He didn't want to stay at their place too much, in case The Centre was following him. He was outside, looking at the stars, contemplating that moment of happiness. He knew it would last just a few hours and that then everything would be back to normal: chase, run, searching for the truth, desperate necessity to find answers to a lifetime of questions. At least, he got one.

It was a day he was away, but he missed Miss Parker terribly. Emily was right, if he wanted to go back to Blue Cove it was mostly to stay with her. He couldn't stand the idea of being away from her, not even for a day. Something inside him told him that this vulnerability was a weakness, that he couldn't let it take over him. If being separated meant feeling weak and lost, then they shouldn't be distant at all. He took his phone and dialed the number (by heart), then waited for the woman to answer from the other side.

Parker couldn't sleep, as usual. She turned over in bed, sometimes she took her mobile just to see what time is was. The truth was she was expecting a phone call from Jarod, she _felt_ it would come. She was dying to talk with him to know what he was doing, how he was, if he missed her.

It wasn't until two in the morning that she was pleased and her phone started to vibrate. She took it eagerly and opened the communication with a long "What…"

Jarod smiled, thinking that his lecture about the way she answered the phone maybe had an effect after all.

"It's me."

"I don't wonder who is speaking when the hour is so late, Jarod. I _always_ know it's you."

"I've seen my father and siblings today…I told them everything, Parker."

"They also know about us?" she asked, trying to figure out the scene of a Jarod talking with Major Charles, his sister and clone, all around an apple-pie. Who knows why, the thing amused her.

"They do. I couldn't help but tell them. Does it bother you?"

Parker wondered why it didn't disturb her at all. If she was the same person she had been just two days before she would detest being in that love-on-a-shoestring-situation, but she promised herself she would change. Besides, hadn't she confided in Broots and Sydney too? No, it didn't bother her at all.

"How did they take?" she answered with another question.

"Jes and my father seem happy for the news. With Emily it was a bit harder…"

Parker asked herself if she would have to fight to have the approval of the one woman who one day would be her sister-in-law.

"Then she remembered that my mother used to talk about you…that she knew you're good, and they forced you to become my pursuer. She knew, because she and Catherine already knew the answers…So she tried to make Emily realize that you'd never actually been my enemy."

Parker thought that Margaret, like her mother, might be an exceptionally sincere and kind woman.

"Sometimes I wonder why she ran from me when she saw me on the island…She already knew, why didn't she tell us then?"

"Because we weren't ready" Jarod said, moving closer to a porch "We didn't know anything about the prophecies…"

"They could have told us!" she replied, a bit upset. It was the first time she thought of her mother with a bit of resentment. Why did she hide everything until that very moment?

"Well, actually I wasn't calling you for that. I wanted to tell you that I've decided to go back to Blue Cove for a while…"

Parker stared and stood up from the bed "What?" she shouted. She did everything she could to get far from Jarod, so that The Centre wouldn't suspect, and now he wanted to go back?

"No way!" she shouted.

"I've never been much inclined to listen to you, in the past…" he replied, amused because he had imagined her reaction perfectly.

"You can't go back, Jarod. I won't allow you to. It's too dangerous, and you should be searching for Ethan!"

"Parker…" he went on, with very low voice, while he was getting close to the house door. "I cannot be without you. I've realized this makes me weaker, because I spend my time wondering what you're doing, if you're okay, whether I'll see you again…"

"All of this just after 24 hours of distance?" she asked, turning on the light and moving towards the living room.

"Actually I've realized just after five minutes, last night…"

"Jarod, please, don't come back…" she whispered, wandering around the house and looking for something to drink. She passed in front of the door and in that very moment Jarod answered her aloud "I guess it's too late…"

Parker turned around immediately, because in addition to the one from the telephone, she was listening to Jarod's voice also outside the door. She squeezed her eyes, exasperated, and opened the door. Jarod was there, his phone still in his hand. He was smiling and yet he was ready to be scolded for that stunt.

Parker didn't drop the phone. "Seeing that you never listen to what I say, then I'm going to let the first stranger knocking at my door enter the house!"

Jarod made a step forward, still speaking by the phone "Is he tall, dark haired, smart, funny…" Another step "…and loves to make you surprises even if he knows you hate them?"

Parker didn't give in. "No, he's a Lab Rat that has the bad habit of waking me up in my deepest sleep, even if he knows I – hate - it!" she said through clenched teeth and emphasizing each word.

Jarod girded his free hand around her waist. "Then I authorize you to let him enter…provided that you make him sleep on the couch, you know…I become the _bad guy_ when I'm jealous!"

That said, he closed the phone and started to kiss her neck.

"What would you do if you found out that he just jumped on me and I didn't even try to stop him?" she mumbled, throwing the mobile on the near couch.

Jard looked at her intensely. "I guess I could become an animal."

"God, I hope so!" she concluded, kissing and dragging him. He could only shut the house door with a foot, before Parker led him towards her bedroom.

* * *

Miss Parker opened her eyes with the weird feeling she was observed. Then she remembered about Jarod's sudden arrival and realized he was still at her side, stroking her arm.

"You act like a fool, coming here." she admitted, now that she was enough lucid to remember how dangerous the situation was.

"I would have been a fool not to come!" he replied, standing up. It was dawn and the day seemed to be promising.

"Do you realize The Centre is less than five miles from here?"

"You don't need to remind me, I know The Centre's location better than anyone else…"

"Jarod." Parker sat up and wrapped the sheets around herself. "Emily was right, you need to stay far from here…If they found out…"

"They won't. I need to stay with you, right now…"

"And to think I was the one begging you to stay, a few hours ago…"

Jarod sat on the bed and took her hands "Parker…Don't underestimate the importance of our connection…We need to be together, we don't have to separate anymore! I've seen my family and I'm happy I did it. But while The Centre is alive, they will be much safer far from me. While I'll be secure only if I'm with you…We can take Catherine's project forward _together_"

Parker shook her head. What did he expect, that she accept the idea of living under the same roof _just like that_? Wasn't cohabitation a bit hurried, after so little time?

Then she realized that those would have been the old Miss Parker's thoughts, not the new one's. And suddenly she heard the voices inviting her to trust him, to let him stay. And one voice, clearer than the others, her mother's one: "You and Jarod…Together."

"You won't even notice me…" he whispered.

"Like tonight?" she asked, amused. The truth was she didn't need to put her gun under the pillow, when Jarod slept with her. She didn't felt like it.

"So let's say you're noticing my presence when you want to…" he replied, giving her a soft kiss on her forehead.

Parker took a look at the time and she realized she had to go back to The Centre. It was time to face Lyle.

"I must… go to work. I have a fugitive to hunt…I think you've heard of him, he's a naïve guy who decided to crawl inside the bed of his pursuer…"

Jarod smiled. "You have to admit, that was quite of a strategy…"

Parker stood up and got dressed with the first things she found, omitting the accuracy she usually had when she had to chose her work clothes. She took the gun from the closet drawer and she checked it was loaded, then she put it around her waist and moved towards the door.

"Promise me you're going to be careful…Don't show up in town, don't leave this house unless you have to and most of all…Don't come to The Centre!"

"I've got something for you…" he said, giving her a new phone.

"What, an engagement gift?" she asked, sarcastically.

"I've modified it personally: not traceable phone calls, and just three numbers stored: mine, Sydney's and Broots's. There are their mobiles." he explained, giving her the other two phones.

"With these, we can communicate without being afraid that they're listening. But use them only if you have to, don't make Lyle and Raines suspicious, they've kept your phones under control for years…"

Parker stared at him: this meant that every call she had with Jarod had been overheard by them? He immediately guessed what she was thinking, so he reassured her. "My calls are not subjected to Centre's controls: they can't keep me out, they can't even find me…And particularly the ones I had with you…They were the ones I used to shield the most…I didn't want them to find out that I was helping you discover the truth, I was afraid they would have hurt you…"

Parker found that new revelation made Jarod almost irresistible. She kissed him, slowly. Then she put the phones inside her bag and left for The Centre.

* * *

**Still waiting for reviews ;)**


	6. Chapter 6: Don't Look Back In Anger

**DISCLAIMER**

Just have typos and misprints checked by my lovely _guardian angel_, **Antoinette**!

This chapter features one of my favorite songs. I just thought it fitted very well with J & MP relationship at the beginning of the season.

Of course, lyrics and music are not mine! And so all the characters, as usual.

* * *

**Chapter 6: Don't Look Back In Anger**

**THE CENTRE**

**10.03 a.m.**

Sydney and Parker talked for a couple of hours about a strategy to adopt with Lyle and Raines. They both were waiting to meet her and they had sent for her many times. She had answered she would go straight to their offices whenever she felt like.

Broots was tense and inattentive, he was working at his computer with great diligence and didn't hear a word the two colleagues were saying.

Before indulging in dangerous confessions, Broots and Sydney had inspected the offices where they spent most of their time, his and Miss Parker's. They hadn't found microphones, nor bugs. The phones seemed not to have any control or recording devices. They could speak freely.

"What will you say if they ask you about clues on Jarod's movements?" Sydney asked.

"I could tell them the truth." she replied, starting to feel a slight headache. "That he's hidden inside my house and he is located in the palm of their nose from here!"

Then she realized she hadn't previously mentioned this to Sydney and Broots, so she understood their change of mood.

"I didn't ask him to, he came back on his own…He said he feels safer here than anywhere else, he says…"

The thing embarrassed her and she didn't want to talk in front of Broots. So Sydney sent him a glance and asked him to leave them for a few minutes.

"Uhm, I…I've got a meeting with my friend Johnny in internal affairs. We'll catch up later."

When Broots left, Sydney invited Parker to sit close to him on the sofa.

"You're worried…"

"I can't help it, could I? I'm going to face my brother and Raines everyday, knowing that Jarod is hidden in my own house…"

"Why did he come back?" Sydney demanded her. He already knew the answer, but he wanted to hear it from her.

"Jarod thinks that it could be easier to face this thing together…He says that he feels vulnerable when he's away from me, while it's all very simple when we're together."

"And what do you think?"

"I'm not cut out to be the lovely wife, Syd!"

"I guess that's not Jarod's intention to make you feel like…" he replied, almost amused.

"Perhaps it's easier for him, but not for me! I'm the one bringing her sorry ass inside here and pretending that nothing has changed. I'm going to lie everyone, to create evidence about Jarod's movements, to make Lyle believe that I'm still hunting him…while he's hidden in my place!" she almost shouted, standing up and gesticulating.

"If anything happens to him…I'd never forgive myself…After all he's been through because of me!" she concluded, sighing.

"You've got the same problem you've always had….your guilt-feelings come to surface…don't let them come between you and Jarod. You've built something good, don't let the past destroy it!"

"But the past still exists, Sydney…it's a shadow we can't delete, it sticks on us."

"So you must be very good in learning from your mistakes…we all have to, me too…"

"And how are you doing this?"

"Helping you and Jarod was a good start…I'll talk with Raines to find out what he did to your memories…At least you may find some peace…"

Sydney rubbed her arms and then exited the office. Parker sighed and regained her icy-mask. She only had to _pretend_ that everything was like before. After so many years, she had become a Pretender too.

* * *

"Sis, we were waiting for you…" Lyle announced, when he saw her entering his office.

"I imagine you killed time messing around with each other!" she answered, slashing "No more finger exchanges, lately?"

Ignoring her, Raines intervened "Where have you been?"

Parker reviewed the rules: _to be a good liar, you must believe in what you're saying_.

"I was following a clue to find Jarod…a personal track, that I had to go through on my own…" she explained, sending Lyle a glare.

"We can't work well if you start going around the States alone and without sweeper teams…You could at least have taken Sam with you!"

"Jarod lured me in an impasse…I was hoping to find information about my mother, but he cheated on me, as usual. I have been closed in a basement for three days, then I had to wait for Sydney and Broots to find me…"

Lyle stared at her, not so convinced "Where were you?"

"New Haven." she answered, sincerely.

Raines took a look at Lyle. Could they both be aware about Catherine's manor?

"Jarod…did he tell you anything about our mother?" Lyle asked.

"I've never seen the damn Lab Rat, he left me a message to make fun of me."

"What did that say?"

Parker had a quick think and tried to reason like Jarod would. After all, she had received his messages for years, she could pretend she actually got a new one.

She slightly spread her legs, her arms folded. She looked at Raines with her blue eyes and said aloud "Beware of enemies, but even more…of friends"

Lyle raised his eyes, sure that Jarod was still trying to gain a bit of his sister sympathies.

"If you don't mind, Broots and I have work to do, Jarod was seen in Connecticut very close to the place he imprisoned me in, I must do some digging…"

"No!" Lyle screamed, standing up and following while she was going out.

Parker realized immediately that her brother's nervousness was due to the fact he knew very well about Catherine's house. It couldn't be otherwise, or he wouldn't have reacted that way.

"You know, Lyle…if there's something I hate more than having you as twin brother, it's to have someone tell me what I should or shouldn't do…"

"We already followed Jarod's tracks, all dead for a couple of months…We must wait for him to turn up, chasing him in this very moment wouldn't be an appropriate strategy…"

Raines looked at him worried. What did those two have in their mind? Were they hiding something from her?

"You just think about taking care of your stump, I'm thinking about Jarod!" she replied, exiting the office that once belonged her father and now was Raines's.

She hid behind a wall, hoping to overhear the two of them talking.

"She can't go back there, if Jarod knows about Catherine's house, she could find something we missed…"

"We already searched the house, and we never found anything…take it easy, son!" Raines answered "Just try to keep an eye on your sister and focus on our little project…it's the only way, the only card we still got to play with the Africans…"

"If only hadn't they found those damned Scrolls…"

"We should thank your _father_, for that…"

Miss Parker heard enough. She went back to her office, finding Sydney intent on talking with Broots.

"Miss Parker, here you are finally! I've found something…"

She omitted for a second the conversation between Raines and her brother and she concentrated on Broots's computer.

"I was trying to find out if The Centre knew anything about the DSAs stolen from Jarod's mother, I wanted to see if there was a sign of them anywhere…so I started searching inside The Centre archives: all the DSAs have been catalogued by date, year and subject. Needless to say that most of them are about Jarod or your mother…"

"Get to the point, Broots!" she replied, impatient.

"Ok, ok…in the last years, The Centre started a conversion of all the available DSAs to have a digital copy, to protect the information researches heritage…There's also a copy of the ones Jarod took away…"

Broots played a video with Jarod pretending to find out how President Kennedy was killed.

"Those bastards had copied everything before Jarod ran…" Parker whispered, in clenched teeth.

"Yeah, if we found out sooner, we would have saved so much time…anyway…some DSAs in the list, on the other hand, had never been converted. They disappeared before the assigned personnel could copy them…"

"Print a list of those DSAs dates!"

"Already done." Sydney intervened "They match with the ones of the videos you and Jarod had found."

"And The Centre did find out…"

"A couple of years ago an incessant research started, those DSAs made the guys of the video department get crazy, they couldn't understand what happened to them, because they weren't among the ones Jarod stole…"

"Did my father know?" Miss Parker asked.

Broots assented, in silence. Sydney, as usual, had been blinded.

"I've done some checks and I found this." Broots went on, giving her a piece of paper. "It's a letter the Triumvirate sent your father at the beginning of '77…"

Parker read it greedily.

**_Project "Mind Rain" must be carried out as soon as possible._**

**_We won't tolerate any other delays, and we won't allow the pretender _**

**_to become a menace for The Centre._**

**_Doctor Raines will take control of the situation, _**

**_while the boy's guardian must be kept in the dark about that, we don't want any interference. _**

**_Don't disappoint us again, Mr. Parker._**

"Project _Mind Rain_…Have you ever heard about it, Sydney?" she asked.

"No, and it doesn't sound any good…But if it has anything to do with those DSAs…"

"Maybe it's about what they did to me and Jarod…it does makes sense, the last stolen video was set during the '76 New Years Eve…"

Parker sit down for a moment, she was worried because of that discovery.

"Did you talk with your brother?"

"Yes, and I managed to convince them that my absence was motivated…But I also found out that they're up to something, a project they don't want to tell me about…And it seems to be even more important than the hunt for Jarod!"

Sydney rubbed his chin with his hand. "I doubt Raines wants something more than Jarod's return."

"And yet you must believe me, Syd…" Parker said finally. "He's hiding something. And we both know what we should do about it…"

They both turned to Broots, who looked at her scared "Why do the worst tasks always happen to me?!"

* * *

When Miss Parker arrived home, that night, she found all lights turned off and a very weird silence. She opened the door trying not to let him notice her presence, then she locked it behind her. She didn't turn the lights on at once, but she started to look around, hoping to find some sign of _his_ presence.

She made a few steps towards the living room and suddenly she felt two gentle hands touching her shoulders, two hands that knew perfectly her curves. A second later Jarod's face was laying next to hers. She didn't need to hear him talk to recognize his breathing.

"I should install an alarm, almost everyone can enter this house…"

"I've been waiting for you for hours, I was getting crazy here!"

Parker caught the ball to convince him to disappear "Why didn't you leave, then?"

"For the same reason I came: I'm addicted to your hair scent…"

Parker turned around and kissed him, then she turned on the lamp. The light almost annoyed her.

"Tell me you've got some interesting news…" she asked him, impatient.

Jarod reached his computer and invited Parker to follow him.

"Ethan was hidden with you, before he disappeared…There was no reason for him to leave without telling us, unless something, or _someone_ lured him elsewhere…"

"Do you think Raines and my brother found him while we were chasing that insane Alex?"

Jarod shook his head "No, we would have found out…You said Ethan had started a note he never finished, what did it say?"

"Just that he needed to leave, but the note wasn't very clear. Maybe he was hallucinating…"

"I don't think so, he had started to dominate his voices, he was following your mother's voice mostly…But he didn't know that lately I've become a bit possessive towards my family, so I've injected a subcutaneous transmitter into my father, my sister and Jesse. When I found Ethan, I did the same with him…"

Parker looked at him, surprised by that revelation "Why can't you locate him, then?"

"Because it activates itself only if the subject is at a distance of ten miles from The Centre…A precautionary measure, in case that someone drags a person I love inside that place…"

"So we know from exclusion that Ethan isn't at The Centre…"

Jarod nodded.

"Did you inject me?" Parker asked, because she wanted to know if Jarod took that _precautionary measure_ for her too. But he shook his head in disagreement "I would have never violated your privacy in such way, and besides it would have been useless: you are at The Centre everyday…"

Obviously, Jarod was right.

"I've started to think like Ethan, pretending to be him. You came to look for your father and Alex, Ethan told me where I could find you. Maybe he felt duty bound to come and search for us, help me to save you…"

"But then why he didn't come back?" Parker asked. She didn't understand where he could possibly be, and she was very worried for him.

"I've got a simple plan: we call him back to Blue Cove. It's the only way we've got to locate him: as soon as my transmitter activates, I can find him in less than one minute."

"And how can we attract him down here? And at what price! Jarod, he was prisoner of Raines for years! He maybe had a worst childhood than yours, maybe he just wants us to leave him alone…"

"He's just worried and maybe he doesn't know what to do…Maybe he's looking for your mother!" Jarod replied, trying to support his point of view.

Parker, as always, kept silent and tried to understand what was Jarod's plan. "How can we communicate with him?"

He stood up, glad to see that she was listening to him. "The only one who can is you…You've got a connection beyond the material…"

"The inner sense?" she asked, sure that she couldn't use it whenever she wanted.

"You must trust the voices, Parker: they led us here…You must use it to contact Ethan and ask him to come back…"

"I can't, Jarod." She answered, standing up.

"You don't have much of a choice! We need Ethan, and he needs us!"

Parker was moving back and forth, ready to blow up from a moment to another.

"Do it, Miss Parker…" She couldn't help but notice his return to the _Miss._ "Talk to him!"

"I can't!" She screamed. "I don't even know what this gift I have is, I can't activate it with a button! You can't force me to do something I know I can't do!"

Jarod was visibly disappointed: after all that time, she didn't trust him yet, nor herself. He looked at her sitting down, leaning her head on her hands, then he reached her.

"I trust you…and I can help you to do this…"

"How?" she asked him, not convinced at all.

"With love…"

He took her hands and squeezed them gently, while she looked at him scared.

"Trust me…"

Parker sighed, then she closed her eyes. The only thing she could feel was the touch of his hands. Then his voice intervened "Relax, Parker…Think about the last time you've seen each other…"

Parker thought about her father's house, the fireplace, the words spent talking about Catherine, the mother Ethan hadn't known.

"Think about Ethan…Call him…" Jarod whispered.

Parker concentrated and heard the voices mumbling. She couldn't understand what they were saying, they were just rumbling, the one over the other.

Two of them, however, seemed to be stronger than the others. She distinguished the first one very well, it was her mother's.

"Call Ethan, Miss Parker…" Jarod went on.

She slightly moved her face, with her eyes closed and Jarod's hands tightened on hers.

Now also the second voice seemed clearer.

"Ethan." she whispered.

A second later, she was again in that burning apartment. It seemed that they were destined to meet each other always there, where Ethan had saved her life.

"Ethan!" Miss Parker repeated.

Her brother turned around, he was smiling.

"Hello, Miss Parker…"

"What are we doing here? I don't understand…"

"You were searching for me…And your inner sense brought us back here, where everything has started…"

Parker felt her words in an echo, as if that wasn't real. But in here mind, that _was_ incredibly real.

"Ethan…You must come back…For me…and Jarod…Come back home…" she said.

"Home?" Ethan asked.

"_We_ are home…Come home! Please…"

Ethan looked at her, in silence. A moment later, Parker was again in her house, with Jarod holding her hands.

How much time was she away?

"Parker!"

"I saw him, Jarod…I saw Ethan!"

He smiled and held her, glad that his idea had worked. He wanted to push Miss Parker to make the great gift she received from her mother grow. He felt that might become more and more important.

"You succeeded in communicating with him?"

Parker put her hands on her eyes "I think so…I've asked him to come back…"

Jarod nodded and noticed that she seemed tired and exhausted because of that experience. She was also very hot, her forehead was burning.

"Are you okay?" he asked her, a bit worried.

"I think these are…effects of…the transfer…"

She stood up and reached the bathroom. She understood that she wasn't fine when she found herself throwing up. She rinsed her mouth and face to recover, but her head was still aching.

Jarod knocked on the door and she let him in. She was pale and felt burning.

"I'm sorry it had this effect on you…I shouldn't have pushed you to do it…" he said getting closer and touching her forehead again.

"No, you were right…We can just hope that Ethan got the message…Just keep checking his transmitter, will you?"

He nodded. Parker was looking a bit better, but he knew she was a stoic and proud woman. She would never admit she was sick.

"You need to rest…"

"Yes, maybe you're right…"

They went towards the bedroom, where Jarod had prepared an hot tisane for her. He helped her get into bed and sat next to her, holding her hand.

Obviously, none of them wanted to sleep.

"We found something, today…"

Jarod looked at her, curious. With all that happened he hadn't even asked her how was her day at The Centre.

"Something about your father?"

"Yes…I overheard Lyle and Raines talk about a special project…Something they keep hidden from all of us…they said it's very important, especially now that the Triumvirate has got the Scrolls…"

Jarod opened his eyes wide. So they actually managed to find them…And what happened to Mr. Parker?

"Broots found some information about Project _Mind Rain_"

That name didn't tell anything to Jarod, but Miss Parker had already figured that out. "We believe it's about what they did to our memories…"

"The name is actually evocative…We must learn more…" Jarod answered.

"Tomorrow, now I really need some rest…"

Jarod tried to stand up, but she kept him by his hand.

"…Stay here with me?"

When he saw her defenseless as a child, he softened. She had been a trigger-happy-hunter but now she behaved like a little girl trying to eye-catch his attention. She was making up for lost time.

"Jarod…"

He looked at her.

"How can you be so…"

"So what?" he asked.

"Good. Fair. Honest…How come you don't hate Sydney and me for all we've done to you? How come you don't look back in anger?"

_That is the question_, Jarod thought. Sometimes he had found himself in anger or spite. Like when he had killed Damon. But then he always felt bad, he felt empty. He had that sense of emptiness The Centre left him with, and he could fill it only when he helped other people. Their smiles, sweet words, happiness in their eyes. That was what gave him the strength to go on and look at the future without resentment.

"Well, the night I escaped from The Centre, I ended in Todd Baxter's car, he helped me to run away…Between a chat and the other, I heard this song at the radio…it was the very first song I'd been listening to since a very long time…"

"Which song?"

"The lyrics are about this main sentence, _don't look back in anger_."

Parker smiled "I know that song. I like it."

Jarod wondered how could it be possible for them to be talking about such a normal and beautiful thing as a song. "Well, I took it as my motto. Remember the chorus, don't you? It talks about this woman, Sally, whose soul is sliding away because it's too late. But in the end, don't look back in anger…"

Parker sang the tune in her mind, trying to remember all the words exactly.

"I thought immediately that you were like _Sally_, to me. You knew it was too late for us, and you were walking on by. But I didn't have to look back in anger…"

Unintentionally, Parker squeezed his hand tighter.

"I can't tell why I am what I am. Nobody would expect a boy taken from his family and exploited like they did with me…to grow up completely…_normal_."

"Not a chance."

"But I tried. And once I was out, I followed my instinct and conscience, as Sydney taught me to do. At least I owe him something: he gave me the means to distinguish good boys from bad boys. And I wanted to be among the good ones…"

Parker smiled. "I wish I had reached you there sooner…But for years, too much time…I played on the wrong team."

Jarod gave her a kiss on her forehead "Not anymore."

It didn't take long to fall asleep, with her guardian angel right by her side.

* * *

**THE CENTRE**

**9.47 a.m.**

"Miss Parker…You've arrived at last!" Broots said, welcoming her breathless.

She didn't look well: she was still a bit pale and that nausea sometimes turned up again.

"Are you all right, Parker?" Sydney asked, worried for her health, as usual.

"Never been better." She replied. "News about _Mind Rain_ Project?"

Broots shook his head. "I'm looking everywhere, but I haven't found anything yet…"

Parker had thought about it: there was still a last thing to try: she hadn't used Angelo's faculties yet. He was the only one who could see clearly through that all story.

"I know what you're thinking." Sydney said "But I would like to talk with Raines, before addressing ourselves to Angelo…"

"Why?" she asked, and she didn't understand why Sydney was so reluctant to let her see the empathic.

"Maybe I could use the scientific side of the project to…"

"Sydney." she interrupted him "The old zombie doesn't believe anything coming from your mouth now. You helped Jarod to run too many times, or to rescue children from his hands before he could do anything to them…Do you remember when you pretended you wanted to be Jes - Jarod's clone trainer? Then you betrayed Raines and let Jarod know where he could find the boy…"

Sydney almost smiled, remembering one of his most heroic acts.

"Miss Parker is right, Raines doesn't consider us as his subordinates anymore, he sees us as a team opponent to his one…The only one who still enjoys his favor is Lyle."

Miss Parker nodded. "We need Angelo, Sydney. It's the only way…"

Sydney sighed and assented. He led Miss Parker and Broots to where they've always kept Angelo, the huge dark room where the pretender could pour out his instincts.

However they weren't prepared for the vision they were going to have: Angelo was in a catatonic stupor, he seemed to be back to the non-conscious moments he had when Raines brainwashed him and made him change from Timmy to what he was now.

"What happened to him?" Parker asked, noticing that he was stuck in looking at the floor.

"He's been like that since you came back from the island…After helping us to find where you went, he entered in this total numbness and didn't say a word. I've been trying to stimulate him for weeks, but to no avail…"

"What did they do to him?" Parker asked, reaching the man and leaning down to him, with a tear to her eyes. The memory of the video they had found was still vivid in her mind.

"Nothing…it happened suddenly, but nobody had to do anything with him, except me. It's as if he had closed on himself like when he was a child…"

"I didn't think I would have ever missed his scribbles and exaggerated reactions when he touched objects…" Broots said, noticing that the pretender's felt-tip pens were all spread messy on the floor.

Miss Parker got nearer and looked at her childhood friend with tenderness. When Angelo didn't even notice her presence, Parker took his hand and squeezed it. Then he suddenly raised his face and stared at her.

"Miss Parker…Danger…" he whispered.

Sydney was wide-eyed "I can't believe it! He just talked!"

"Miss Parker…Jarod…Danger!" Angelo went on, squeezing her hand and standing up, starting to speak out loud.

Parker let him go and watched him while he was going back to express himself as she had always seen him.

"Miss Parker…Jarod…Danger!"

Angelo continuously repeated those words, while she looked at him worried and scared at the same time.

"I don't understand, why now? What's going on, Angelo? What danger?" Sydney asked him, trying to calm him down.

"Hidden…Secret…Centre!"

Parker goggled her eyes: Angelo was saying the words she heard in her mother video.

...

"_A terrible secret is hidden inside The Centre. Something my inner sense cannot foresee yet. It's like if something born from you two was in the most hidden depths of The Centre."_

_..._

"Angelo!" Miss Parker whispered, firmly and taking his face in her hands, asked, "What secret?"

Angelo shook his head, he couldn't answer.

"Please, Angelo…You must help us…" she went on. Sydney was very amazed to see her behaving like that, since she had never really given importance to Angelo's attacks, all those years.

Angelo moved towards the piece of paper and took a black pencil in his hand, and he started to write something by tracing out the words. When he was finished, he showed Miss Parker the paper, and she read out loud.

**_Secret_**

**_Sublevel_**

**_19_**

"There are no labs in that sublevel, that I know…What could there be?"

Miss Parker knew exactly what was in that place.

"It's the place where they keep…my father and Brigitte's son."

* * *

**MISS PARKER'S HOUSE**

**2.29 p.m.**

Jarod had been looking for information about Ethan for hours now. Sometimes he looked at some F.B.I. top secret file to be sure that no federal agent was hunting him because of his involvement with the subway explosion happened a few months before.

In spite of his efforts, every hope was vain: there was no trace of Ethan. The boy was covering his tracks perfectly and he didn't want to be found, not even by his own brother.

The only hope was the transmitter, that didn't show any sign of life yet.

"Where are you, Ethan?" Jarod whispered, more to the computer than to himself.

His cell phone rang, and from the ID he recognized Miss Parker as the caller.

"How's your day in Wonderland?"

"Call me Alice, from now on." she replied "Jarod…I've talked with Angelo."

Parker was wandering in The Centre corridors, trying to move gingerly and unshowy.

"Was he helpful?"

"Maybe…It's too soon to tell, but I believe the danger my mother was referring to in the video is connected to…my brother."

Jarod shook his head "Lyle is already a risk for us, I do not see why he- "

"Not _that_ brother…My little brother, my father and Brigitte's son."

Jarod came back to reality. He hadn't thought about that boy for a while, maybe because so many things had happened to him during the last year, that he never stopped to ponder about the meaning Mr. Parker had given to his legacy. He considered him to be of great value, and yet he had disappeared without remembering him. Was he thinking about the little boy, when he had jumped from that plane?

"The boy…I almost forgot about him…" Jarod answered.

"I didn't…I've been asking my father and Raines about him for months, but they always wanted me to buy the story about the underdeveloped lungs to keep controlled, but I hadn't seen him for days…"

"You believe he's in danger? And what does it have to do with us?" Jarod asked, skeptic.

"I don't know what to believe. Any news about the fugitive?" she asked, never mentioning names in case somebody was listening.

"No, I've almost los- "

Jarod stopped talking because Ethan's transmitter just turned on and started to flash.

"What?" Parker muttered.

"That's it!" Jarod said "I found him!"

"Wait, I'm coming with you…" she said.

"No!"

Even if their relationship had changed, Parker didn't want to him to control her and oblige her to do anything.

"He's also _my_ brother, Jarod!"

"I know that…" he answered, while he was taking a gun and putting it in the coat pocket, the telephone held between his ear and shoulder. "But you'd attract to much attention if you ran right now, let me take care of it…"

"No way!" she shouted against him, starting to move faster.

"Parker…" Jarod started, coming back to the old reproachful tone he used to have in his calls before they revealed their love for each other. "Trust me."

Parker stopped and just thought. Jarod was right: she truly wanted to see Ethan, but she couldn't risk Lyle finding out. And suddenly she felt again the voices, her mother's one more limpid than the others.

_Let him go._

"Ok, Jarod…" she gave up.

"I'll be in touch."

"Be careful!" she shouted, before he could hang up.

He felt so flattered by those attentions, and he smiled to himself "When did somebody at The Centre ever found me, if you weren't behind his back?"

He ended the call, leaving Parker almost amused.

* * *

Even if he had showed confidence to Parker, Jarod was indeed worried. He never took a gun, but that day he felt he should be ready to defend his brother at any cost. It was too much important to find Ethan, after all that time.

He had followed the transmitter signal until he reached a park located a few miles from Miss Parker's house, and he tried not to attract attention. That afternoon there were not many people around, if not for an old lady walking her dog and a couple of friends jogging and chatting.

Jarod took off his sunglasses and started to look around, hoping to see Ethan somewhere. The transmitter was beeping and Jarod followed it until its sounds became more and more frequent. When he reached a huge oak, Jarod realized Ethan was really there and he may be behind the plant.

"You'll learn the fine art of playing hide and seek in time…" he said out loud, leaning over the plant.

His brother was sitting on the ground, he was leaning against the tree trunk. He had just a small backpack with him, but apart from that he looked just as Jarod remembered him.

"Jarod!" he shouted, standing up and holding him "How did you find me?"

"That's a long story, but I'm explaining to you later. Now we need to go, this place isn't safe…"

Ethan shook his head "We're safe, for now…"

"The voices?" Jarod asked.

Ethan nodded, smiling.

"Ethan…"

Jarod couldn't help but hug him again and warmly. He missed him so much since he left.

"Where do we start?" he asked him.

"Let's start from you and my sister…" he replied, smiling again.

Jarod made another embarrassed smile. It wasn't easy to have those people reading inside him as Ethan and his sister did.

* * *

Sydney got back to Miss Parker's office and found her lying on the sofa. She was holding her head with her hand.

"Any news?" he asked her.

She opened her eyes and awoke, sitting up.

"No, but if there were problems, we'd already know, wouldn't we?"

Sydney smiled and put a hand on her shoulder "You sure you're okay?"

"It's going to pass…It's just my ulcer that sometimes shows up again…"

He nodded "What are you going to do with your little brother?"

"The access to SL-19 is forbidden, you can get inside just with a special card that only Raines and Lyle own. I can't show my hand to them, I must understand what's going on, before…"

"Maybe I do!" Broots exclaimed, entering hastily.

Miss Parker stood up and looked at him with a victorious gaze "Found something?"

Broots smiled. "It took me hours, but I was successful in breaching the security system of the cameras in SL-19!"

"Good work, baldy!" she said, patting him on the back. Besides the pet name, Broots felt surprise because of her statement. He went to her computer and imported the videos that he had just downloaded from the archives.

"This is a few days ago, you still were on…holiday, uhm…"

...

_The video showed a corridor of the Sublevel which was right in front of Room 47, but nobody could see its contents. Lyle and Raines came out of that room._

"_It would be catastrophic if my sister found out about this…"_

"_Don't worry about her, she's not even here. And when she's back, we must keep her in the dark about that, as usual…" Raines replied._

"_I don't think so…it's about…"_

"_You're not authorized to think!" Raines shouted, showing an authority he hadn't got for a very long time "The project is going on very well, and in a couple of year we'll be ready to take it to the next phase. We only have to wait a while, and make the best of this bad bargain…"_

"_And what about Jarod?"_

_Raines grimaced. "We keep hunting him, but it would be a waste of effort. He's got too many people helping him to run, and by now we need to turn over and be prepared to have a new pretender…They took Ethan away from me, but they won't take him."_

_Raines moved away. But Lyle wasn't over yet "And what about my father?"_

_Raines turned around and looked at him, smiling "If he really survived, it's up to the Triumvirate to show him mercy. But we did agree about this project, since the very beginning. After all we're talking about…his legacy…"_

_..._

Miss Parker looked at Broots, as if she was hoping the video to continue, but it had stopped.

"They didn't have any other conversations and as soon as they discovered I had intercepted this one they became much more suspicious…They blocked everything…" he explained in his defense.

"So it's true…They want to exploit the baby to make him become a pretender at the service of the Triumvirate…Some things never change…" she whispered, through clenched teeth. After thirty-five years spent working on Jarod, that circle seemed to have no end. A new generation always led to new pretenders.

"I can't believe your father agreed to let them take advantage of his son…"

"Well, he was not such a fatherly figure, wasn't he Sydney? Not to mention how much he insisted that the baby would be his heir, the one who would continue the Parker's legacy…"

In that very moment she remembered the terrible words Mr. Parker had said before making his Geronimo off the plane from Glasgow. He had affirmed that the new Parker's legacy was starting with her. What did he actually mean by that?

"One thing is for certain: that baby must be taken away from here. Angelo was right…he's in danger…"

Miss Parker reached the door.

"Actually," Sydney stopped her. "Angelo said…That you and Jarod are in danger…" He pointed out.

Parker ignored him and went out. She'd had enough.

* * *

**Here the lyrics to the amazing song I've talked about during this chapter. **

**More updates soon ;)**

_Slip inside the eye of your mind_

_Don't you know you might find_

_A better place to play_

_You said that you'd never been_

_All the things that you've seen_

_Will slowly fade away_

_So I'll start the revolution from my bed_

_Cos you said the brains I had went to my head_

_Step outside 'coz summertime's in bloom_

_Stand up beside the fireplace_

_Take that look from off your face_

_You ain't ever gonna burn my heart out_

_So Sally can wait, she knows it's too late as we're walking on by_

_Her soul slides away, "But don't look back in anger", I heard you say_

_Take me to the place where you go_

_Where nobody knows if it's night or day_

_Please don't put your life in the hands_

_Of a Rock n Roll band_

_Who'll throw it all away_

_Gonna start the revolution from my bed_

_'Coz you said the brains I had went to my head_

_Step outside 'coz summertime's in bloom_

_Stand up beside the fireplace, take that look from off your face_

_'Coz you ain't ever gonna burn my heart out_

_So Sally can wait_

_She knows it's too late as she's walking on by_

_My soul slides away_

_"But don't look back in anger", I heard you say_

_So Sally can wait_

_She knows it's too late as we're walking on by_

_Her soul slides away_

_"But don't look back in anger", I heard you say_

_So Sally can wait_

_She knows it's too late as she's walking on by_

_My soul slides away_

_"But don't look back in anger, don't look back in anger"_

_I heard you say, "At least not today"_

**_[OASIS - DON'T LOOK BACK IN ANGER - Lyrics & Music by Noel Gallagher]_**


	7. Chapter 7: Michael

**DISCLAIMER**

I love Ethan, you're going to see much of him hereafter. He's a nice character, I think he deserved being much more developed during the real show. I'm doing that for all of you!

As always, _comments are really appreciated_. And please, forgive my lack of English!

**Thanks to Antoinette for the usual help in the translation, Luv ya!**

Thanks a lot **Virginie59** for your reviews.  
And I'll try to answer all your questions.  
Baby Parker IS a part of the story and yes, he's in the hands of Raines and Lyle (at the moment). You'll understand how he us linked to MP and J soon, because no, he's definitely not Mr. Parker and Brigitte's son.

* * *

**Chapter 7: Michael**

Jarod and Ethan had spent the last half an hour talking. Ethan had listened to everything Jarod was telling him, because he felt that his _big brother_ needed to confess to someone his feelings towards his sister. If they were a normal family, it would have been absurd to explain to your own brother how can you feel something for the woman who's also his sister, but they were no normal family. And would never be.

Ethan internalized everything with great serenity. He was a very good listener, and he had felt every emotion Jarod was feeling while blurting out the last month's events. At first the panic when he had found Miss Parker on the island with him, then the rage for losing his mother again. The growing feeling of affection for the woman who had been chasing him for years, but who was the only one who actually knew him. Affection that soon had become desire and, slowly, declared itself to be love, a love born years before.

Ethan had laughed when he had found out how Jarod had conquered Miss Parker, in practice making her kiss him by force. He had rejoiced when he found out that she had let herself go in the end and had admitted her true feelings; and he had shared Jarod's feelings when he talked about Catherine's house and the DSAs they had found in the attic.

"Your mother…she wanted us to find them…And she wanted us to join you again, little brother."

"I know…that's what she had told me everyday in the last couple of months…" Ethan explained, closing his eyes and trying to listen to her.

Jarod understood it was time to reverse the roles. Now it was the boy who had to tell him what happened to him and where he had been all that time.

"Why did you escape, Ethan? We were so worried about you, your sister was getting crazy at the idea that anything would ever happen to you…"

Ethan opened his eyes slowly and looked at his older brother seriously. It wouldn't be easy to make him understand his point of view.

"Jarod…When we heard each other the last time, I understood you would have protected my sister with your life, if necessary…But I knew you were also looking for your mother desperately, and I knew you needed to see her again…I understood that because of me, that search had suffered a setback and you'd had to change your plans…"

Jarod shook his head "It's not different from any other day of my life: everytime we find a piece of truth, every time your sister and I succeed in answering to one question…ten others come out, at The Centre!"

Ethan knew what he meant. He also was looking for answers and rarely found them.

"You were one of those secrets, but you were the nicest surprise. You hadn't known my brother, Kyle, I didn't actually know him too. But I loved him and I missed him very much. It was a gift to find out that I had another brother. A gift from your mother, who was a wonderful woman…"

"This is why I left…You know, Jarod…It wasn't easy for me to live without knowing who I really was. I wrote two lines to my sister, but I wasn't that wordy. I wanted to leave, I had questions that needed answers. And I felt I had to disappear for a while, to let things…evolve."

Jarod was looking at him a bit uncertain "What do you mean, evolve?"

Ethan smiled "Since you and Miss Parker found out about my existence, your relationship changed. She understood that our mother trusted you and loved you as her son. She found out that she knew your mother and she started to look at you with a different attitude. To save me, you joined forces and got closer. The voices told me: I felt that something was growing between you two, something important…"

"Actually it wasn't growing, it was…turning up again…" Jarod pointed out.

"Precisely! But it had to happen in that moment, not sooner, nor later. After years of chases, you found again your relationship and it's no coincidence if those DSAs you told me about came out just these last days. My sister is expanding her inner sense, mostly because of you, you encouraged her, otherwise she'd never had accepted it!"

"You should have stayed, to help her to understand it and improve it!"

"She didn't need me to, she just had to listen to our mother's voice…"

Jarod remembered when he had told Miss Parker the very same thing, years before. "Her voice is inside you", he wrote on a note. Back then, besides, he couldn't actually know how much those words were true.

"What did you do all this time?"

"I hid and thought a lot. I tried to follow my mother's will, she encouraged me to reconcile with my past to face the future. I cannot change what has been, Mr. Raines kept me as a hostage all my life. But I'm different, because of you. I can use my gift to help others and I'd love to do it with you, big bro…"

Jarod smiled "We will, Ethan!" he said, patting him dearly "But now we have an important duty to fulfill, and we can finish it only together…"

"My mother's plan…" Ethan continued, while Jarod nodded. Obviously the boy already knew what he was talking about, he didn't need any explanation.

"Miss Parker and I will work together to destroy The Centre, once and for all. There will be neither more secrets, nor terror, nor prophecies…"

To the sound of that word, Ethan had a moment of disorientation and put a hand to his temple, hearing the voices increasing in intensity and he started to moan with the pain.

"Ethan!"

"It's nothing…"

Actually the boy was shivering, and when Jarod touched his forehead he felt it was burning, just as Miss Parker's was the night before. Those were just effects of their inner sense, or was it something else, something more dangerous?

"I'll take you away from here…" Jarod whispered, noticing that somebody not far was starting to look their way. "Can you walk?"

Ethan nodded, without stopping to touch his head. Jarod headed in the direction of his car, hoping that the boy would make it until there not to have to drag him.

* * *

Sydney braced up and got inside the office of the man who had most hampered him all those years. He had never had a great relation with Mr. Parker, but Raines had always been his antagonist. Raines hated him because he was Jarod's trainer, and most of all because he always put a spoke in his wheel. Sydney was the cause of Gemini's escape and Raines suspected that he had helped Jarod to make run Ethan too, the most precious project he had. But this time he couldn't interfere, there was no more Mr. Parker to act as a mediator. He had the power in his hands. If Sydney still was at his place, it was just not to lose the connection between Jarod and the Centre, in the hope that one day they actually succeed in catching him.

Raines sat at his desk and contemplated Sydney's theatrical entry amazed, he hadn't even knocked.

"What brings you to my door, Sydney?" he asked him with his hoarse voice which makes him look like a cartoon-villain.

"I know you and Lyle are up to something, Raines, but I'm here for something different. Something about my children."

Raines smiled "_Your_ children?" he asked, starting to laugh. "And when did you start considering yourself as a mother hen, Sydney? What about the professional detachment?"

Sydney replied "You and I never stood each other, but you know how much I care about Jarod and Miss Parker, it's useless to go on and pretend."

Raines would have loved to answer in kind, but he could not show his hand. It wasn't the moment yet.

"What do you want?"

"I want to know everything about Project _Mind Rain_."

To Raines it was like a ice water bucket thrown over his back. How could Sydney possibly have found out about that project? And why was he dragging it in after all those years?

"I want to make things simple to you, Raines." Syd remarked through clenched teeth and bending on his desk. "Tell me what it was and who authorized it…And I'll avoid convincing Miss Parker to finish the work she started when she wanted to avenge her mother's death…"

Raines didn't fear his threats and he knew that Miss Parker would have never killed him, she didn't have it in her eyes. But in the end it was something he couldn't repair, a project created years before. It couldn't hurt anyone if he spoke about it. And most of all it would have engaged the three stooges in a new research of the past, instead of the future.

* * *

I In the same moment, Miss Parker was outside the corridor that she had been watching before through the surveillance video. Broots was at her side and, as usual, he was shivering from head to toe.

"Broots, don't be a chicken." she jeered at him.

"If they find us it's the end, Miss Parker!"

"Then try not to chatter your teeth, or they'll hear you…"

Hidden behind a wall, they were waiting for their chance to get through the armored door. Broots had created a loop for the cameras and they had almost ten minutes. Sydney was in Raines's office and had to distract him to allow them to see what they were doing to the baby. Miss Parker couldn't accept the idea they were exploiting her brother, who wasn't even two years old yet. Every time she had seen him, before that isolation, she felt a strong attachment towards him. Actually, since she took him from Brigitte's uterus, she couldn't help but loving him. The last time she had visited him, she had made him play and realized he had two beautiful brown eyes, that reminded her vaguely of Jarod's ones, maybe because he also had that lost-puppy look.

A technician came out of one room and he got his way to the door, giving Miss Parker the opportunity she was waiting for. She and Broots flattened themselves against the wall, waiting for the man to come out of the corridor. As soon as he opened the door, Parker and Broots took the time it stayed opened to infiltrate inside the corridor in silence, trying not to be noticed. When the door closed behind them, Broots dried the sweat from his forehead and sighed in relief, while she dragged him behind her.

* * *

"I don't understand why you want to raise again questions buried years ago, Sydney."

"Make me happy…" he answered, ironically.

"In the end it was a thing born also because of you, Sydney. I told you since the beginning that you were too much indulgent, with those children. You always let Miss Parker wander freely inside The Centre to make friends with Jarod, you even allowed them to play together!"

"I wasn't the one to let the girl in here!" he replied, furious.

"A mistake made by the weak woman Catherine Parker was, and carried out by her husband…But I saw what was happening: two children that often escaped our control, sometimes they also discovered secrets they weren't authorized to know…"

"Here you're up to Faith…" Sydney interrupted him.

"If it were for me, Miss Parker would have never set foot inside The Centre anymore, after the first simulation with Jarod…We wanted to find out the effects a girl would have had on him, but the thing got much too serious just a few years later…"

"It was the only possibility we had to persuade Jarod to go ahead with his simulations…And we always kept an eye on them, there were cameras…"

"Yeah…" Raines continued "And the videos regarding them were catalogued and sent all to the Triumvirate!"

"They were just kids, Raines! Jarod worked much better, after spending some time in Miss Parker's company."

"You have no idea." Raines said, standing up. "What happened between those kids…during Christmas holidays you were never there, you always had something else to do, didn't you?"

Sydney refrained from speaking. To go and visit Jacob was the only freedom he took during the golden years of The Centre, when he had to think about Jarod's training.

"You've never seen those videos. But I did, and Mr. Parker did also…"

"And what should I have seen, exactly?" Sydney asked.

Raines was smiling, almost naughtily. "Two young teenagers having kiss and a cuddle as a couple of sweethearts! They had to be stopped before the thing got too serious. The Triumvirate didn't look with favor on the relationship between the kids, and neither did I. Mr. Parker, on the other hand, had different projects for his daughter, and the more he tried to get her far from The Centre, the less he succeeded. She was too close to our Jarod, and the thing was getting almost embarrassing."

* * *

Miss Parker and Broots walked through the corridor, confident that the cameras couldn't see them. They went over the first two doors, but beyond the glasses they didn't see anything but empty rooms. They were lucky with the third try. Behind a huge window, similar to a hospital one, there was what could be considered as the nursery of Baby Parker, who was inside a crib and sit, playing with some cubes.

His sister got excited when she saw him, because she realized he had grown. The baby didn't seem to have been mistreated, anyway. On the contrary, he was smiling.

"Broots, stand guard…" Miss Parker said, opening the door.

As soon as she was inside, her little brother noticed her presence and turned towards her. She smiled and took him in her arms, discovering again those brown eyes that had struck her and she realized her instinct was leading her to smell a baby's head. She was definitely getting spineless…

"Hello!" she told the baby.

"Hi!" he answered. Miss Parker was surprised for his answer, but she actually knew that by two years babies start talking and say simple sentences. That baby in particular was almost eighteen months. He had grown so much, since the last time she took him in her arms.

"I realize you don't have a name yet, little boy…Would you mind if I call you Michael?" she asked the baby, wondering where the hell that name came from. Maybe she had always liked it and, unconsciously, she would have always wanted to call her son that, that is she'd ever had one.

"Yes!" the baby answered, smiling. Parker didn't understand where that lovely and striking smile came from. How could he be Brigitte's son, since he didn't look like her at all? The more she looked at him, the less she saw her tracks any resemblance of Brigitte, in that baby.

"I won't allow them to hurt you, boy…" she whispered, putting her face next to his soft and hot little head "You're my brother, and I'm going to save you…even if it is the last thing I do!"

"Miss Parker, we gotta go!" Broots intervened, realizing that the looping time of the cameras was almost over.

"I'm coming back to take you" she said, giving a kiss to the baby that from then on would always be Michael, to her, and she put him back to his crib.

Then she ran out the room and gave a last glance at her brother, setting out with Broots towards the exit of SL-19.

* * *

"The Triumvirate gave precise orders." Raines spat out. "We had to carry on Project _Mind Rain_ and erase the relationship between Jarod and Miss Parker!"

Sydney thought about the mail that Broots had found.

"But what was it? Why didn't you inform me?"

Raines smiled "And when exactly have we ever revealed our projects for Jarod to you, since we knew that you wouldn't agree?"

Sydney felt his hands itching and had to tighten them not to jump over Raines and punch him.

"You erased their memories, didn't you?"

Raines wondered how the hell he found out, so he was silent for a while. Then he continued. "It was one of the best experiments in the whole Centre history. That was a mixture of hypnosis, hallucinogens, and mental reconstruction interventions. The day before they were two kids, friends for life, the day after Miss Parker was removed of her squalid memories connected to her relationship with Jarod. We couldn't go too deep because the more intense moments, the ones linked to childhood, had to remain. We would have risked wrecking Jarod's brain, and none of us wanted to…"

"Why?" Sydney shouted "Why did you take those memories away from them?"

"At that time we weren't authorized to discuss orders…The Triumvirate had its good reasons to separate them.. In those videos, Miss Parker was talking more often about escape and freedom, unacceptable concept if we're talking about Jarod. She was convincing him that they would run away together and they were getting older. Their bond was a risk for Jarod's safety and most of all for The Centre! We had to destroy it!"

Sydney didn't waste another second. "You've always been a psychopath, Raines…You took the only light Jarod ever had in those years at The Centre from him."

"I thought it was your pseudo-paternal relationship with him that gave him strength, wasn't it Sydney?" he replied, with a malice that would have destroyed almost anyone, but not Sydney. He was indeed taking strength from his connection with Jarod, nobody could break it, not even Dr. Raines's terrible manipulations.

"Anyway Project Mind Rain had such a positive outcome that many governments bought it and used it to erase memories from political prisoners, soldiers, troublesome persons…I must admit it was our little masterpiece!"

Sydney wanted to spit in his face that Jarod and Miss Parker were now remembering everything, and they had found the disks stolen from The Centre, but obviously he couldn't betray his pupils' trust like that. He would have found another time to get vengeance on Raines. He went towards the door.

"Why are you so interested in discovering things that happened almost thirty years ago?" Raines asked him. He couldn't understand that man's will to hurt himself like that.

"As you said, Raines…I've always had a flaw in my character, to be too much indulgent, with those kids. I won't lie to Jarod, and if he's ever going to ask me I'll tell him the truth…He's got the right to know what you did to him. Not only you took him from him his childhood, his family, his identity…You even took the memories of the only friend he had ever had!"

Raines seemed satisfied. "Miss Parker became a skillful huntress, after the training, and she never gave any sign of remembering anything. She always hated Jarod, and as far as we know she still hates him. _Mind Rain_ is portentous!"

Sydney smiled. "So is Jarod's intelligence. What are you going to do when he finds out?"

"It won't be necessary for him to know." Lyle voice intervened, as he had just got inside the office.

"You knew about this?" Sydney asked.

"This is not the right moment to complain about the past, we just had a tip. Somebody saw Jarod in a park in Blue Cove. We're going right now, where's Miss Parker?"

"Somebody asked for me?" she said, making her entrance in that very moment, followed by Broots. Her glance made Sydney understand that her mission had gone as expected.

"Your prey is waiting, let's go!"

"What do you mean?" she asked, starting to sweat.

"Jarod was seen in a park not far from here…they say he wasn't alone, we're going to make an inspection, if we're lucky enough he's still around there …"

Lyle was reaching the door, but his three colleagues were still stuck. Parker couldn't keep her strong nausea and felt like she was fainting. Jarod had been identified. He was in danger! Recognizing her symptoms, Sydney helped her. "You go ahead, I've got some other business here…"

Parker understood that Sydney would take the chance to contact Jarod with his new mobile phone, so she regained control of herself. "Broots, let's go, our lab rat is not likely to waste time as our Dr. Freud!"

While the group went out of Raines's office, Sydney turned again towards him, looking at him full of hate.

"As you see." he said through clenched teeth. "Miss Parker seem to be still completely subjugated. Don't you think the truth would destroy her and make her lose that bit of trust she has in you?"

Sydney wanted to scream that Miss Parker already knew everything, he wanted to say that fantastic and strong woman had changed her life and was now staying with the man they had taken her away from against her will. But he couldn't do that. He could just feel glad to realize that Raines was convinced that _Mind Rain_ had been a success. Actually, it was becoming his greatest failure.

Sydney pretended to be pondering about his colleague's words, then answered. "I won't tell her anything. But should she one day start to remember, I won't be the one who lies to her. Not to her, nor even Jarod!"

So said, he went out the office. He couldn't know that Raines was growing up a new foolish desire. The desire to kill him and get rid of him once and for all.

* * *

Jarod was still in the car and was reaching hastily Miss Parker's house. Ethan lay on the passenger seat and was leaning his head to the window, holding it with both his hands to moderate the ache.

"Hold on, Ethan, we're not far!"

"Where…are…we going?" he asked him, within a moan and the other.

"Your sister's home. We'll be safe, there!"

In that moment Jarod's phone rang and he took it in a hurry, answering with no frills "What?!"

"Jarod, thank God I found you! Miss Parker is coming to the park with Lyle and a sweeper team, somebody spotted you…You found Ethan?"

"Yes." he answered, giving his brother a glance. "He's not well, I'm taking him home…he needs some rest!"

"I'm telling Parker you're safe. In the meantime don't go out and keep checking the streets, they could see you!"

"Thanks, Sydney."

In that very moment Miss Parker was in the car with Lyle, who was driving at a frenetic speed. He hoped to reach the park before Jarod could disappear, as usual.

Her phone rang, the official one. Miss Parker took it and answered "What?!"

Sydney realized in that precise moment that Jarod and her were really made one for other, if in emergency situations they answered the phone in an identical way.

"It's me. The situation is under control." he said.

"All right, Sydney. We're taking care of Jarod. I just hope he's still there, when we arrive. I'm just so tired of his Houdini-styled disappearances!"

Sydney smiled to himself, thinking that those years spent at The Centre had transformed that woman in a liar beyond suspicion, but at least for once she was using that talent in the right way.

Miss Parker ended the call and heard her twin brother saying. "Well said, sis!"

Broots gnashed his teeth. Maybe, after all, Miss Parker could handle the situation much better than he thought.

* * *

**MISS PARKER'S HOUSE**

**7.45 p.m.**

Ethan had been sleeping for a couple of hours now. His fever had come down, and Jarod was actually relieved. For a few seconds he had feared that it would got so worse that he would need to take him to the hospital, but Ethan explained him that was normal. That always happened to him when his inner sense had to do with something very important. Jarod was now worried about Miss Parker. It was late and she hadn't come back yet. He hadn't got news from her, nor Sydney. But maybe it was better, because they were taking the risk to be caught in the act by Lyle. Around the house there were no movements, and Jarod shut the windows and took the lights off.

He was checking Ethan's temperature, when the entrance door opened and a breathless Miss Parker entered the living room. Jarod moved towards her without uttering a word, checking if they could go ahead. She locked the door behind her, so he understood he could get closer without problems. He ran to hold her and she hugged him tight, as she had never done in her all life. That afternoon she had been really worried for him. A new and intense emotion.

"Did you have any problems with Lyle?" He asked, stroking her face rapidly, almost to check that she hadn't got anything.

"No, he doesn't suspect at all…Broots and I were good, Lyle was furious when we got there and we didn't find you…By the way, where is he?" She asked, impatient to see her brother.

Jarod indicated the couch and Parker reached it, bending close to Ethan.

"What's the matter with him?"

"I don't know exactly…He has the same symptoms you had last night, just more intense…Very high fever and headaches…"

"Nausea?" she asked.

"Not that I know…"

Parker wondered why it also happened to her to vomit, but that wasn't the time to think about her sickness. Now it was Ethan who needed cures.

"We talked for a while." Jarod explained. "Then he suddenly started to feel sick, his voice became insistent…"

"What were you talking about?" Parker asked, knowing that even a word could stimulate a certain status of trance.

"I was telling him about our plan…We were talking about future, The Centre…"

Jarod thought again about the conversation and then stared at her "The Scrolls…" He whispered. Parker looked at him worried. So Ethan had gone away when Jarod had mentioned the Scrolls. Surely that was no coincidence.

"Miss Parker…" Ethan whispered.

She smiled and stroke his face, a teardrop coming from her wonderful eyes. "Ethan…I missed you so much!" she revealed honestly.

"You too, big sister…It's good to see you, you look very beautiful, but I feel you're also happy now…"

She smiled and turned her glance to Jarod. "I reckon you guys talked behind my back like two silly girls gossiping in a hair salon!"

Jarod giggled and so did Ethan. "I missed your humor, Miss Parker…It's so good to hear a voice so similar to mama's…Mostly because it's not in my head, but it comes from my ears…"

"Ethan, did Jarod tell you that mama…"

"Yes, he told me about the videos…Do you reckon mama is still alive?"

"I'd love to know…what you think…" she whispered, hoping in a positive answer. Ethan closed his eyes and listened to the voices, that now were calm and quiet.

"It's so difficult to understand…Her voice guided me since I was young, but I've never posed myself the question. Now everything is different…and her voice seems clearer. I don't know if that's only suggestion…"

Jarod was listening in silence to that important conversation. He couldn't interfere because he didn't know what was that inner sense that the two siblings shared. But he trusted it much more than any other thing in the world.

"It's not just suggestion…I hear it too, now…" She explained. "I hear it better, I mean."

Ethan nodded and squeezed his sister's hand.

"Rest again for a while, will you?" She asked him, with all the affection she had. Ethan smiled and closed again his eyes. Jarod and Miss Parker moved discreetly towards the kitchen, where she hugged him again.

Since she needed desperately to feel his lips on hers, she kissed him.

"Mmm…you taste salty." He whispered, making her laugh. Apparently her tears had streamed down to her lips, making them more salty.

"I like it!" He said, smiling at her.

"Jarod we need to talk…I've got some important things to tell you!"

"I'm listening…"

"Broots and I made a visit to SL-19, where they keep my brother…We found out that Raines and Lyle have plans for him, the same they always had for you…"

"Simulations…traning…exploitation …" Jarod said, while a fit of anger went through his spine. Every time The Centre tried to hurt a kid, he felt those kind of sensations through his body. It was resentment and his will to get vengeance.

"Fortunately he's still too young, Michael is not even two years old…"

"Michael?" Jarod asked "That's what they named him?"

Parker was now a bit embarrassed "No…I thought it would be nice for him to have a name…"

Jarod smiled at her fit of tenderness. "After all, you're his sister…who better than you could choose his name?"

"I was wondering if there is some…legal way to stop all of this. His mother is dead, his father is lost, I'm apparently his only surviving relative…I could adopt him, ask for his custody. You know the law, do I have any right as his older sister?"

Jarod was touched by her sense of responsibility. But he knew that the problem was not the law, but The Centre.

"Lyle, Raines, the Triumvirate…they know one only law, theirs. The Centre doesn't have to subject itself to official rules, Parker…"

She nodded. "Then we're doing this the old fashioned way: we kidnap him and rescue him, as we've already done…in the past." She concluded, glancing at her other brother, the one who was sleeping on her couch.

Jarod nodded much more determined. "This means a declaration of war to The Centre, once and for all.."

"We found Ethan, another step forward to the end…Do you remember what my mother said?"

"That with him, we can survive…That he's helping us to find them…" Jarod recited, remembering the video by heart.

"Ethan knows much more than he wants us to believe, Jarod…He might have discovered something while he was away…"

"What should we do, Parker?" He asked her. It was the first time in his all life he didn't know how to move.

How could they end The Centre domination, if they didn't even know what those damn Scrolls were saying, seeing that everybody thought they kept the secrets to their future?

"Do you still have contacts inside the F.B.I., Jarod?"

"Yes…I know many agents I can trust…People I've worked with…"

"Fine. It's time to show our hand. The Centre has powerful friends, but its strength comes from the Triumvirate. And apparently the Triumvirate power comes from the Scrolls, or at least that's what they believe…"

"It seems a vicious circle: how can some scrolls written hundreds of years ago control our destiny?" He asked her, in rage.

"Do you remember what my father said? The important thing is that _they_ believe…If they found them, as I think, and if they found my father…Well, then they were read and interpreted…"

Jarod shook his head. "I don't think we're still talking about Scrolls and prophecies, but of real life and the suspicious trafficking financing The Centre. Do you know how many projects are paid directly from the Government or the Army? We can't expose the ones behind them, I've been trying for years!"

"In fact the only way we have to destroy it is to make it from the inside, with persons we can trust."

Jarod was very proud of that speech from Parker. After all those years spent as a chess piece of The Centre, manipulated as they loved to, she finally had realized what a terrible place it was.

"They destroyed our lives and those of dozens of families, Jarod. But they made the mistake to underestimate us. We still have proof of their misdeeds, it's all in your videos. Now we only have to get to the Triumvirate, to take them uncovered. The F.B.I. can help in one way only: they must be in the right place at the right time, when we bring everything to light…"

Jarod got more serious. "Did you ever think…that those videos could lead to Sydney's involvement? Without counting all the laws Broots has broken to find me all these years…"

Parker was wordless. She never considered the thing from that point of view.

"Why do you think I've never spoken about The Centre to the authorities? Why do you think I never gave those DSAs to the police? I couldn't allow Syd, Broots, or you…to get hurt! You're victims of The Centre as much as I am, but the police wouldn't understand that…"

Parker nodded imperceptibly. "Well, we're going to think about it when it's time, Boy Wonder. Now I need some rest, because my head is exploding…"

Suddenly Jarod remembered that she wasn't feeling well the night before. "Did you have any other nausea attacks, today?"

"A bit, but it happens to me every time I see Raines walking across The Centre corridors…"

Jarod stopped her, ignoring her irony and taking her chin with his right hand. "Don't neglect yourself, Parker…"

"I'm fine, Jarod…And now let's go to bed…But you must be aware that I have no intention to give you any attention, not with my brother sleeping under the same roof…"

Jarod smiled "_Our_ brother…" He specified "Who is a grown-up…" He continued, kissing her neck and holding her. "As well as deeply asleep thanks to the gentle sedative I gave him to make his rest better…"

Parker smiled. "You're an evil genius, then…" She whispered, letting him kiss her.

"Well, everybody has a dark side…And mine always turns up, when it's up to you…"

* * *

**Still waiting for reviews, they help a lot, you know!**


	8. Chapter 8: The Scrolls

**DISCLAIMER**

Time to know what the Scrolls said...

As always, comments are really appreciated. And please, forgive my lack of English!

Thanks a lot for your reviews, **Debra** and **Virginie59**!

**Thanks to Antoinette for the usual help in the translation!**

* * *

**Chapter 8: The Scrolls**

The day after, Jarod woke up holding Miss Parker. She was still sleeping and she was resting perfectly on his body, with her hands in his and their fingers intertwined. He was feeling something difficult to explain, he looked at her with unimaginable love in his eyes. He left one of her hands and put his one on her belly, wondering how beautiful it would be if, one day, there was a baby inside of it. It was the very first time he wished to have a son, he had always been too much busy looking for his family to think about creating a family on his own. But now _she_ was at his side, the only wish he had was to see her carrying a child born because of their love. He smiled, wondering what she would have said if she actually heard him talking like that. She would have thought he was crazy and would have made fun of him for hours.

So Jarod stood up and went downstairs to the kitchen, where he found Ethan already awake and full of enthusiasm. He was preparing breakfast for all of them and he seemed to have completely recovered.

"I see you feel better, little bro!"

"Thank to you, Jarod…Call my sister, I would like us to eat all together, as a real family…"

"We need to talk, Ethan…" he clarified, thinking about the conversation they interrupted the day before.

"I know. After pancakes…" he answered, smiling. Feeling their smell, Jarod couldn't help but accept his proposal. He ran upstairs to wake up his dream girl. She was still sleeping, but he succeeded in making her open her eyes by kissing her forehead, then moving a hair lock behind her ears.

"Ethan cooked for us, Parker…Don't make him wait!" He whispered to her ear.

"Jarod!" she screamed, jumping to sit in the bed.

"What?" he asked, a bit worried.

"I was dreaming…" she said, taking his hand and squeezing it. He was there with her, then.

"It was a nightmare, Parker…I hoped they had gone, since we have been together…"

"It wasn't a nightmare…It was a…feeling…" She explained.

"What feeling?" Ethan asked, appearing at the door. Parker fortunately was wearing her petticoat.

"I've dreamed of you…and Michael…"

"Michael?" Ethan asked. Then he closed his eyes, listening to the voices. "Your father's…baby?"

She nodded. Then she continued, looking at Jarod intensely. "The three of us were together…we were smiling…"

"That doesn't seem such a bad dream, does it?" Jarod asked, stroking her face.

"No…But suddenly everything changed…Michael was taken away…from Raines…And I had to make a choice…of losing you…or him…And they…took you away!"

Even if Jarod knew that it was just a dream, he felt a bit worried at the idea of Parker choosing the baby instead of him should she face a decision like that. Then he remembered that it was just her subconscious, so he calmed down.

"It seemed so real…As if it was…"

"Premonition?" Ethan asked.

Parker nodded. Her brother was the only one who could understand her. Ethan sat on a chair and sighed. It was the moment to reveal her the secret he had kept for months.

"I've had it too."

"What?" Jarod asked.

"The same dream. I dreamed of you and a baby, the same choice to make…And that's another reason I left, I feared the baby was a mental processing I had in which I became the baby. But it wasn't me…the baby is a person…it's your brother…"

The voices overloaded Ethan's mind, but also Miss Parker's. They didn't understand what they were saying, but one thing was for certain. _He's not your brother_.

Ethan and Miss Parker looked at each other, worried. Jarod didn't realize what they were trying to communicate to each other.

Why that revelation came just then? Parker had held Michael in her arms many times, she had visited him, she had delivered him…Why hadn't she felt anything, before? Maybe because she didn't know about her gift yet, she hadn't felt it grow inside her. In the last months, instead, her inner sense had got the upper hand and started to guide her choices, to help her finding the answers. And Ethan's presence surely had increased her gift, left inherited from their mother. It was so powerful, in Ethan that it was affecting Miss Parker too, and it made her a more efficient catalyst.

"What's going on?"

"Jarod…Michael is not my brother…"

"But how could that be?" he asked.

"I don't know, but I'm going to find the truth about that baby's origins…Too much time I've asked myself if Mr. Parker was his real father, but now I'm also wondering…if Brigitte was actually his mother…"

"You're afraid they made an embryo implantation that came from someone else?"

Parker listened to the voices again. "I don't believe it, I'm sure. And we must know everything about him. He may not be my brother, but that baby is under my duty, now. I won't abandon him…"

"Neither will I." Jarod gave her support.

"Count upon me…" Ethan whispered.

* * *

Breakfast over, Ethan started to do the dishes, as if he wanted to escape his siblings inquisitive questions. But Miss Parker hadn't got time to lose anymore, before going back to The Centre, she needed to know what Ethan knew about the Scrolls.

"Ethan…" she stopped him, taking him by his wrist. "I know this won't be easy for you…But you must help us…"

The boy sighed, he had known that moment would come. He had to tell his sibling the truth. A truth that had been neglected to them for a very long time.

Jarod was looking at him exactly like Miss Parker was: waiting, hung on his words but without forcing him to talk, if he didn't feel like.

"Let's sit." he said to them.

The three siblings sit in the living room, where Ethan took place on the armchair, while the couple sit on the couch.

"When I left, I did it because the voices were leading me to do so. I knew our mother wanted me to leave you to allow you to get closer again…"

Parker looked at Jarod at her side. They were thinking the same thing: with Ethan's presence, they would have never left for the Island of Carthis on their own. And certainly they would have never had the chance to let their feelings resurface as it had happened.

"I don't blame you, it was destiny. And it was my will to find out what destiny had in store for us to push me to leave."

"You're talking…" Jarod asked, leaning over him. "About the Scrolls?"

Ethan nodded hastily, starting to contrast the voices. He had to hold on and face that conversation once and for all.

"When I heard about your trip to Europe, I started to read up on them. I've spent hours in studying the secret archives of The Centre, I wanted to discover the exact location of the Triumvirate…"

"No one knows, Ethan…" Miss Parker interrupted him. "Not even my father, neither Raines."

Ethan shook his head. "I had to find out…Your father jumped from that plane because he knew he was flying over a very precise area…"

Jarod tried to remember the excited moments that had taken to that emergency landing.

...

"_Auto-control is down. We're gonna have to fly the rest of way manually. Electronics are gone, which means no gauges and no landing gear!"_

_Parker gave a worried look at the stricken control panel._

"_These are the latest coordinates the flight computer printed out. Use those numbers to find a matching landing area!"_

"_Got one. Moguai Airport, Morocco…Can you make that?"_

"_I better…" _

_..._

"We were flying over Morocco…" Jarod explained.

Ethan nodded. "Mr. Parker knew that…That's why he jumped right there. He had his parachute, so I started to convince myself that he could have saved…and on the contrary he had premeditated that drop."

Miss Parker fell silent, thinking about that dramatic moment when she had seen for the last time the man she believed to be her father.

"You reckon the real Triumvirate station is in Morocco?"

"The voices led me towards that direction…"

Now Jarod couldn't believe his ears. "You went to Morocco? Alone?"

He almost seemed the big brother giving him a good telling-off because he came home too late and made him worry. But he didn't have a reason: Ethan was a pretender, just like him. And moreover he had his inner sense, which never abandoned him and protected him from danger.

"That was a boring trip." Ethan explained, trying to minimize.

"Why didn't you call us? We would have come with you…" Parker intervened, a bit resentful for the little trust her brother had in her.

"I told you, sis, that wasn't the right moment. I felt I had to do it on my own. And believe me, it was worth it…"

Ethan stood up and took the backpack he never got separated from. Back to his place, he opened it in front of them and took out a picture taken from the satellite. It showed what seemed a kind of fortified fortress in the desert.

Jarod took those papers and looked at them carefully "How did you find its exact location? I've been trying for years…"

"Hours and hours of research…And a good deal of help from mama's voice…"

Jarod was almost envious of the prodigious gift those two people had. Besides his superior mind, he couldn't _feel_ like them. Miss Parker guessed immediately his inner conflict, and put an arm on his shoulders. "On the island your pretending skills were enough to make us find the Scrolls, weren't they?" She said, cheering him up. He was very grateful to her, in that moment.

"The fortress is patrolled night and day by dozens of trained soldiers, they're mere mercenaries…Inside there are many sublevels, as in The Centre. And then, there are prisons, and torture-rooms…"

Parker winced. "You said it like if you were there…"

"Not personally, but when I got inside the fortress, I felt…the pain…the suffering…"

Ethan stopped for a moment, clenching his fists to resist the memories of what he had lived in Africa. Miss Parker touched his hands and invited him to calm down, causing at once him to relax.

"I had to know what those Scrolls say…The voices told me that they had been found, that they couldn't be deep down the ocean…"

"And you found them?" Jarod asked, at the height of his curiosity. He was inpatient as a child waiting for his favorite cartoon to begin on tv.

Ethan smiled. He took another sequence of pictures, this time taken by him. They shows the Scrolls, page after page.

"Ethan…How could you possibly do this?" Miss Parker asked him, not believing her brother's courage – recklessness?

"It was no picnic, believe me…"

Jarod and Parker started to look one picture at time. The Propechies were in fact common papyrus rolls not bigger than a normal A4 piece of paper. They were written in English, printed with movable types, with a font that in a modern computer might have been a "gothic" one.

"The first part expands upon the secrets of human power. They say that power can be gained with control, and that only control can govern a civil and pacific world." Ethan explained.

"That sound very much like a tyranny…" Miss Parker whispered, not believing what she was reading.

"And in fact…" Jarod echoed her. "Here we talk about The Centre…"

**_The Centre shall rise._**

A shiver went down Jarod's spine.

"It describes exactly the birth and rise of the Centre…How your great-grandfather would come to United States to make a change in the society, thanks to the foundation of a place that would have allowed him to gain control…"

"What kind of sick mind could have conceived such a thing?" she said, through clenched teeth. Ethan thought the same thing, when he read them.

"Then it expands upon The Centre duties…To raise superior minds…Train genius to lead the purer races…" Jarod read, in visible loath.

"A Nazism _ante litteram_" Miss Parker commented sharply.

Jarod suddenly opened his eyes wide.

"What?" She asked, because she got left behind.

**_The Chosen will be found, _**

**_a boy named Jarod_**

**_will gain absolute power._**

"Well…By that we can say goodbye to your inferiority complex towards Ethan!"

Ethan chuckled to himself. He was so proud of his sister, who didn't show no sign of fear for what she was reading. But she hadn't seen it all, yet…

"So I should be like…a chosen one, a leader that should take The Centre to…absolute power?!"

"Jarod…not should…you are." Ethan explained.

"I don't have anything to do with The Centre!" he replied, feeling outraged.

"Ethan is right, sweetheart…" and Jarod immediately melted down when he felt her hand stroking tenderly his nape and mostly her voice calling him that way. "You had been The Centre most valued experiment for years. They had obtained power and recognition because of your simulations…"

"They sold what I thought up to make money and kill innocent people!" Jarod shouted.

"I know, but you must admit…" She whispered "that those damn Scrolls…had foreseen it!"

He snorted and came back to his reading. Finally something caught his attention.

"Parker…look…"

**_The Chosen will escape The Centre._**

**_A girl will be charged with taking him back. _**

**_The Angel will chase, the Chosen will run._**

"Well…this explains many things…" she commented, with a tear coming to her pale cheeks.

Jarod held her tenderly, while Ethan sat in silence and discretion.

"I can't believe some fanatics bastards who lived centuries ago had foreseen our future…This doesn't make any sense!"

"Few things in our lives ever made sense, Jarod. That is why I'm here, sitting with my brother and my sister, who are a couple…of lovers…"

Jarod had to admit Ethan was right. He had lived a whole life in mystery, this was just one among the others.

"It's not over, Jarod…There's still the last page, the more important one…"

Both Parker and him came back to read the last part of the Scrolls from Ethan's pictures.

**_The Angel will fall for the Chosen _**

**_and they will cooperate to destroy The Centre._**

**_Eventually they will succeed _**

**_because without the help of the Angel, _**

**_the Chosen won't prevail. _**

"I don't know if I should feel cheered up or disgusted." Jarod commented. The answer came when she squeezed his hand, letting him know the emotion she felt in reading those words. They summarized what they had understood in the very last days: Jarod could have never done anything to destroy The Centre on his own. But together, they could be lethal.

**_The last hope for the Centre _**

**_will be their legacy. _**

**_Born within The Centre,_**

**_final promise to make it rise again._**

The text was over. There was nothing else.

"Their legacy…" Miss Parker commented. She thought again about her father's words.

...

"_Daddy, are you just gonna leave me here to die?"_

"_No, no, you'll be all right. That's not how they say it ends."_

_The man had reached the cargo hold door. _

"_Wait! Daddy, I have to know. Are you my real father?" She had asked him, with the little hope that he finally would say the truth. Jarod was waiting, as curious as her._

"_I love you as my daughter. That's all that counts! Don't be sad. The new Parker legacy begins with you. God be with you, Angel…"_

_..._

"Your father read the Scrolls, I convinced him to do it…He knew what they said, he knew that you and me would become…one thing…he knew we would destroy The Centre…"

"And he knew what legacy the prophecies talk about…" She continued, for him.

"A dangerous legacy…" Ethan interrupted.

Miss Parker looked at her brother for the first time after a few minutes. He was right. What could they have left behind at The Centre? A project? Memories?

"A legacy born within The Centre…final promise to make it rise again…" Jarod read again, out loud.

"Any idea of what this could mean?" she asked.

"No, but we'll find out." he concluded.

"And that's not all." Ethan took the floor again. "The Scrolls are not the only thing I've found in the Triumvirate fortress: there was Mr. Parker too…"

Miss Parker couldn't believe her ears. So he was alive. The man who had wanted to control her fate for years, the man who had caused her mother's departure, the tyrant that probably had ordered Tommy's murder…He was still alive.

She didn't know how to react to the news. She felt relieved, for a moment, when she had realized that Mr. Parker wouldn't have ruined her life anymore. But she was wrong.

"Was he fine?" Jarod asked, trying to meet the conflicting feelings of hers. He knew that she cared about that man, deeply inside, and that she feared for his life.

"As far I could ascertain, yes, he was…I couldn't set him free, but they kept him inside a controlled room, kind of cellar."

"Well, what an ironical fate for the man who kept _you_ both in a cellar for years." She commented sarcastically.

Ethan sighed. He realized that he would have never wanted to find himself in the role of the ones who had wronged his sister, for she seemed to be very vindictive.

"We're taking care of him later…now the important thing is to interpret the prophecies…And make them come true, at least until we talk about The Centre destruction."

"And what about the last part? We get rid of it as if we pretend it doesn't exist?" Parker asked, more and more ironically.

Jarod ignored her "We find out all we can about this legacy. If the Triumvirate had interpreted the prophecies, they're going to do all they can to make me go back to The Centre, so that I cannot destroy it. But at the same time, they might want to make _you_ inoffensive…"

"Maybe they don't know the petname my father hung on me!" she replied.

"With Mr. Parker as prisoner? I don't think so, _Angel_…" Jarod teased her.

"Ok…" she stopped him, squeezing her eyes and touching her forehead. "Broots, Sydney and I are getting to work. But in the meantime you both must leave Blue Cove!"

A choir of protests not much comprehensible rose towards her, both from Ethan and Jarod. None of them wanted to leave her right now that she needed them so much.

"No way, Parker!"

"I'm not leaving, sis!"

"Jarod, Ethan…It's too dangerous for you to stay here!"

"So it is for you…You should get away with me, leave The Centre…Guess what they could do, if the Triumvirate really fears the influence you might have on me!"

"At The Centre nobody knows about us, but Sydney and Broots. I won't allow Lyle to find out, nor that creeping warm of Raines! The more you stay here, the more you put us in danger!"

Jarod sighed, Ethan fell silent. Miss Parker was right, if The Centre tried to put her under surveillance, that would be the end. They would find out they were cooperating, and maybe they would have imprisoned them, both, or worse, killed them. Ethan, on the other hand, knew he was a tidbit that Raines was still hoping to catch. He had unleashed his sweepers all around the country, to find him.

"Then we agree. You're taking Ethan to your family's house, and until further orders you must stay with them…"

"Parker…" Jarod whispered.

Feeling his was in the way, Ethan cleared his throat "Ehm…I'll go pack my things." he said, getting far from his siblings.

Jarod tried to take her by her hands, but she pushed him away with a gesture.

"Jarod, please…" she implored him.

"I can't leave you, not now we're so close to find the truth!"

"It's necessary, Jarod…If we want those prophecies to come true, if we want that future together to come true…We must split, now."

"What am I going to do? I can't be very helpful, so far from The Centre!"

"Of course you can…You're the only one who can penetrate their defenses, you've always hit us even when you were far!"

"But now it's different! If anything happened to you…I could never forgive myself…"

"No, _I_ could never forgive myself, if anything happened to you!" She replied. "I've already lost one man I loved because I didn't send him away in time, Jarod. I won't make the same mistake again."

Jarod was sure the situation was completely different from the one that happened with Tommy. But was it really? He was asking Miss Parker to leave with him, just as Thomas had. He was begging her to choose him instead of The Centre. But the time hadn't come yet.

"Promise me you'll call everyday…" He whispered, leaning his forehead against hers.

"Every hour, if it's necessary." She answered.

"Swear you'll be careful…"

"I'll keep my eyes open…"

"Tell me that when it's over we can finally be together…"

"That's just what I'm waiting for, Boy Wonder!"

Jarod kissed her, passing to her on all the rage he was feeling in that moment. He had succeeded in convincing her that he had to come back to stay with her, and now she had been the one to convince him to leave for their own good.

"You've got too much ascendancy over me…" He revealed to her.

"Then we're two!" She replied.

Jarod saw Ethan coming closer, and he understood it was time to say goodbye. His brother hugged Miss Parker, the voices rocking them both in sweet words of hope. _We'll find each other_.

"Be careful, Miss Parker…"

"Take care of him! Lately he has this bad habit to give in to instinct more than rationality…" She said softly to Ethan, but in a way that Jarod could hear her. He smiled.

"I'll remember…" Ethan said.

Miss Parker observed the two most important men of her life going away together and leaving her alone, once again. She couldn't let them see her weak, but she actually wanted to boohoo. So she did the only thing she could do: she took her jacket and left for The Centre, where she would find comfort in the only two friends she had.

* * *

**Still waiting for reviews, they help a lot, you know!**  
**What do you think about the Scrolls? ;)**


	9. Chapter 9: Fatherhood

**DISCLAIMER**

This chapter features secrets to be finally revealed and a confrontation between two siblings. _Twin_ siblings, to be exact.

As always, _comments are really appreciated_. And please, forgive my lack of English!

Thanks a lot LadyOliviaRoxton for the wonderful words, and also the "guest" who reviewed this fan fiction!

**Thanks to Antoinette for the usual help in the translation!**

* * *

**Chapter 9: Fatherhood**

**THE CENTRE**

**9.29 a.m.**

When Miss Parker entered her office, she found a little circus waiting for her. Broots was working at his computer, as always, while Sydney was following Angelo's casual movements, for he was running around in evident anxiety.

"What's going on with him?"

"Miss Parker…Jarod…Danger!"

"He's been repeating those words for an hour, now…"

"Angelo…" she said, taking his face between her hands "We know…Don't worry, Jarod and I are ready to brave danger…But you must stop flailing, because I need you to calm down and be clear-headed!" she said with all the calm she still had. Angelo seemed to melt at her touch, and he grimaced, almost smiling.

"Very good, Angelo…" she whispered, stroking his face.

Sydney and Broots were still staring at her, intrigued by that maternal attitude of hers.

"There are interesting developments…We need to talk!" she said to both of them.

"Talk about what?" a very familiar voice said.

"None of your business, Lyle, get out of my office!" Parker shouted at him.

Her brother, instead of listening to her, got closer. "I was looking for Angelo…we need him because our research on Jarod is at a deadlock…I want to use him to find something."

"He's not an object!" Sydney replied.

"Come on, Syd, let my brother have fun with our little monster!" she silenced him. Sydney was confused. Why that sudden about-turn towards Angelo? But the empath didn't seem to care, instead he was smiling.

"Take him out of here, and if you find anything tell me. I've got some unfinished business with Jarod, and I don't want to let him flee for the millionth time!"

Lyle seemed hit by the hate his sister put in those words. He had never seen her more determined in the last years. So he dragged Angelo out of her office and left alone the _Three Little Pigs_.

"Would you mind explaining?" Broots asked, still appalled.

Miss Parker sighed and sat on the little couch, feeling a new nausea attack coming.

"I had to get rid of him, and he must believe I'm hunting Jarod as I did once…It would be a disaster should they find out about our relationship!"

When he heard Miss Parker talking openly about a _relationship_ with Jarod, Broots understood how much times had changed.

"We talked with Ethan…for a long time…" she started.

"Tell us everything…" Sydney invited her.

The next half hour was spent chatting. Miss Parker told them about her brother's trip to Africa, about the prophecies, about her father surviving to the jump, about Jarod's departure. She explained to them all she had discovered, because they had the right to know, and they were the only ones who could help her, now that Jarod and Ethan had left. When she finished the revelations, she noticed the astonishment in Broots's eyes and resignation in Sydney's.

"Miss Parker…Are you…a-afraid?" Broots asked her.

"Yes, I am…But there's no time to have fear. It's time to find the answers!"

"Where do we start?"

"From Little Michael's identity…Ethan and I realize he's not actually my brother, so I want the truth…I feel responsible for him, even if I don't know why!"

"Your bond with him is derived from the fact you helped with his birth, you were close to him before they isolated him…After all, you were sure he was your father and Brigitte's son." Sydney explained.

Once again the voices stunned her. _He is not your brother_.

"Broots…I know I'm asking a lot…But you must run some DNA test on the kid, is it possible?"

Sydney and Broots stared at each other. "When we were looking for information about your biological father…we found some placenta and cord blood samples from the baby..."

"Great…Nothing better than a prenatal-viscera-cocktail to discover where Michael comes from…"

Even if Sydney thought her connection to the baby was touching, he felt her anxiety. He knew that little baby meant a lot to her.

"Get to work, Broots…compare the baby's DNA even to the Pope's, if necessary!"

"All right, Miss Parker…"

So said, Broots went out from the office. Sydney was looking at her and wondering if it was the right time to tell her about his conversation with Raines.

"I feel you're hiding something from me…" she said, as if she read in his mind.

"Your inner sense is getting better and better!"

"If I don't pay attention to it, I'll end up like Angelo!"

Their laugh suddenly faded.

"I spoke to Raines…He told me everything about project _Mind Rain_…It was the Triumvirate that ordered your memories deleted and the separation of Jarod and you from one another…"

Parker had a tear to her eyes. So it was true.

"He admitted that they were afraid that your intent to run away together and leave The Centre could come true. You were a risk for The Centre safety…So they…"

"Brainwashed us!" she screamed.

"I wouldn't say so that drastically. A few hallucinogens, hypnosis and drugs were enough…God only knows what they did to induce you to forget everything…"

And then Miss Parker started to smile "Not really _everything_…"

Sydney smiled too, and he caressed her arms.

* * *

**JACKSONVILLE - Florida**

**6.56 p.m.**

Jarod and Ethan had arrived home. Even if he had difficulty in calling it so, how could he possibly define the place where lived his father, sister and…little brother?!

Lately he had thought a lot about the meaning of the term "home", and then he realized that maybe Tommy was right when he confessed him that it was only Miss Parker's eyes where he felt home. It had been just a few hours they had left, but he was missing her so damn much. He couldn't focus and thoughts of her absence was consuming him.

"How is she?" Jesse asked.

"Fine, Jes…Miss Parker is a strong and stubborn woman, she doesn't fear anything…Or at least she doesn't show…"

Ethan smiled, thinking that one day that boy in front of him would have become a _replica_ of his brother. And yet, he felt a very different character in him, contrasting feelings. His will to abstract himself from the way the others saw him was leading him into becoming a special and unique individual, very different from Jarod. And that was very pleasant, for his inner sense.

Major Charles had welcomed Ethan with serenity and affection, commenting that he'd never dreamed to have a third son, it was like a blessing to him. Emily was glad to have finally found Ethan, who had been the object of her research for such a long time. Now she was feeling that her family was starting to be complete, Margaret was the only one missing to finish the picture. Jarod left the conversation with the others and moved outside to the garden, where he took his phone. The moment had come to make a very important call.

"Agent Zane!"

"Agent Andrea Zane! How are you?" Jarod asked, sincerely glad to hear the woman who had been a colleague for a few days while he was hunting Alex.

"Jarod Morse…Was that your last name, in the end?" she asked, chortling.

"You haven't found out yet? I thought you were NSA!"

Andrea laughed again. "To what do I owe this honor, Jarod?"

"I need your help, Zane…"

She sit more comfortably on her chair. "After what you did for us, Jarod…Whatever you need, I'm going to help."

"Are you sitting?"

She smiled "Yes, I am, why?"

"It's going to be a long story…"

* * *

Ethan reached Jarod on the porch. Jarod hadn't eaten anything, and he had left them alone the whole night. His father explained that his son usually behaved like that: when he needed to think, he retired somewhere alone with his own thoughts.

"You miss her, don't you?" he asked.

Jarod smiled, tightening his arms to his chest.

"Me too…But we did the right thing, Jarod. She's safe, I feel it."

"You…You'd feel if she needed any help, wouldn't you?" Jarod asked him, wondering how much the inner sense bonded the siblings.

"I believe so…Even if sometimes it's not easy to distinguish between her voice and mama's…They're almost the same."

"I know…"

The brothers were silent for a few minutes, then Ethan gave in to his curiosity. "Who did you call before dinner?"

"It was the NSA agent I've worked with while we were hunting Alex, Andrea Zane…I know I can count on her help, she was the one I contacted…"

"You told her the truth about The Centre?"

Jarod snorted. "I would have sent her a ticket to the madhouse…I just asked her to begin an investigation about this ghost-society set in Delaware, to find its links with the Government and American societies…I sent her some documentation and asked her to take a look at it…I explained that it is a place the existence of which almost everybody is unaware, and that it has a façade as a research centre…"

"Well…that is truth, from a certain point of view." Ethan noticed.

"I know…" Jarod laughed "I explained to her that I heard rumors about children being kidnapped for experiments during the sixties, I told her there were many unexplainable disappearances in the Blue Cove area and I asked her to open an inquiry."

"Did she accept?"

"She couldn't help it…She owes me a couple of favors…And the material I sent her will make her understand that she did the right thing in listening to me…We also need the governmental authorities to investigate about The Centre, Ethan…They must be ready when the moment comes…"

Ethan nodded slowly. But when would the right moment arrive?

* * *

**THE CENTRE**

**11.34 p.m.**

Miss Parker was sleeping on her couch. She couldn't avoid having again that weird dream where Raines was threatening to take Michael away from her and she had to choose between him and Jarod. It was like she was missing a puzzle piece, in that dream. She saw her possibility to choose, but she couldn't look beyond to understand it.

Sydney came into her office, wondering why she was still there.

"Miss Parker…Why don't you go home?"

She shook her head slightly, without answering. Sydney guessed that she was feeling lonely, so he sat next to her.

"I don't want to…go home…and find it empty, Sydney. I can't stand loneliness anymore…"

Noticing that she was almost crying, the shrink asked himself how much Jarod had affected his protégée's changes.

"It's ok to miss him, Parker…" he whispered, trying to cheer her up.

"I've never relied on anyone, Sydney. And now here I am, looking at my phone in the hope of it ringing all of a sudden. I'm not a fifteen-year-old-teenager in heat, damn it!"

Sydney smiled at her reaction. Were symptoms of love pangs, the ones Parker was feeling?

"Go home…" he said to her.

"I can't…Broots is still here, he's running those tests for me…Unfortunately comparing DNA matches is as easy as to find an Oriental woman that my brother Lyle hasn't eaten yet…"

When she realized that was a macabre detail, Parker felt again the nausea surfacing. Sydney noticed that and put a hand on her shoulder. "Did you take something, for your ulcer?"

She shook her head. "I've never had these symptoms before…I believe it's stress caused by my inner sense, or at least this is what Jarod thinks…"

Sydney tried to think what kind of illness had nausea as symptoms, but he was stopped when Broots entered sadly in the office.

"Miss Parker…" he seemed tired and upset.

"Finally, Broots!" she snapped at him, standing up.

But the computer genius was silent, he was sweating. Evidently he had found out something interesting.

"Were you able to run the DNA tests on Michael's placenta and cord samples?"

Broots paused for a moment, then he nodded, without uttering a word.

"What's the matter?" she asked him, a bit upset by his recalcitrance.

"First I made a comparison between the baby's DNA and your father's, and I noticed at once that he couldn't be his son at all…"

"It just goes to show…" she whispered, even if she already knew it, she felt nauseated at the idea.

"Then I came back to The Centre bodily fluid storage facility…And I found Brigitte's blood. After more tests, I came to the conclusion that she couldn't be Michael's mother…"

Now Parker was shivering. Something inside her started to move, and the voices also started to burst. Sydney noticed her change of mood, but didn't intervene.

"So he is not my brother…Don't tell me he's another clone, please…" Miss Parker whispered, in a faint voice.

Broots rubbed one hand on his bald and sweated forehead "He's not a clone…not really…they used Brigitte as a surrogate mother, but they implanted an embryo born from the union of an egg fertilized with some liquid-"

"I know where babies come from, Broots! Get to the point!" she lashed out, feeling like flaring up.

"Well…in the bodily fluid storage I also found…a sample of Jarod's seminal fluid, the one they used to create his clone, Gem-"

"His name is Jesse, Broots!" she stopped him promptly. She didn't want to hear that boy called in no other way, unless it was his name.

"Well…it matches." Broots cut out.

Sydney sighed.

"Meaning?" Miss Parker, asked, not wanting to understand what her colleague was saying to her.

"Jarod is…Michael's biological father…they used his fluid to fertilize the egg…"

Parker was disgusted, once again. She didn't know how to react to that news. How could she possibly tell Jarod that there was another one of his clones around?

"And that's not all…" Broots continued.

"What could be worse?" she asked.

"The egg…well, you know…Michael's DNA…it matches exactly to his mother's…"

"What a smashing discovery!" she replied, almost causing Sydney to laugh. "And who is the fortunate one whose eggs were stolen by to inseminate Brigitte?"

Broots squeezed his eyes, uncomfortable, sweating further.

"I don't think that…maybe I should have runsome other tests, just to be sure, you know, I…"

"Broots!" she screamed.

"It's you, Miss Parker…"

Sydney opened his mouth, but couldn't say anything because the woman had just fallen to the ground, she had fainted.

* * *

When Parker woke up, she was on her sofa, surrounded by Sydney and Broots, who looked very worried.

"Parker! Thank God, you gave us a huge fright…"

She didn't answer, but she sat up. She had been unconscious for five minutes.

"Do you remember what Broots said to you?" Sydney asked her, stroking her hair in affection.

She nodded and for the first time she heard the voices saying clearly two words: _your son_.

Michael was her son. They used her genetic material to create an embryo.

Michael was her son…and his biological father was Jarod.

These made them…that baby's parents?!

"Parker, say something, please…"

"What am I supposed to say, Syd?" she whispered, without strength.

"I know this is unacceptable, but…"

"Sydney, they created my son in a lab!" she snapped at him "How do you think I should feel?"

"What are you going to do, Miss Parker?" Broots questioned her.

"I must tell Jarod…" she whispered.

Sydney could hardly imagine how that would be difficult for her.

"Do you want me…to take care of it?" he asked her.

She smiled. The offer was tempting, but she couldn't let Sydney take upon himself such a burden. It was a matter between the two of them, or better, the _three_.

Michael was _their son_.

"No, Sydney. I have to do it…"

* * *

**JACKSONVILLE - Florida**

**0.07 a.m.**

Jarod was alone in the garden. He couldn't sleep and didn't want to go inside to feel once again like a stranger under his own roof. Ethan, instead, had familiarized with his new surroundings very well and he was sleeping in his room.

Jarod was playing with his phone and wondering if he should call her. How much would she scoff him if he didn't resist even one day, before calling her?

Just as he was going back inside, his mobile started to ring. Could it be her?

Jarod smiled and opened the communication. "What?" he asked, trying to mimic the sound of her voice when she answered the phone.

Miss Parker, on the other side, smiled to herself. She was going to face the most terrible venture of her whole life.

"I intentionally wake you in your deepest sleep phase and all I get is a lifeless "What"?" she answered, quoting the first telephone call Jarod had made to her after his escape from The Centre.

He laughed "I knew you were listening…"

"Jarod…" she stopped him, while their laughs faded. "We need to talk…"

The seriousness of her statement worried him. "Did you find out something?"

She opened her eyes wide. "Yes…actually I did…"

Jarod was silent, waiting to know.

"Today Broots ran some DNA tests to discover Michael's identity…"

Jarod sighed. He wasn't sure he wanted to hear the rest.

"Please, tell me there's not another clone in circulation…" he begged her.

"That is what I was hoping too…" she smiled as she realized they both had the same thought.

"So?"

"No, Jarod…he's not a clone…Michael is a baby born from a surrogate mother, Brigitte, but he was generated by artificial fertilization…"

"And who are his parents?" he asked her, more and more curious.

Parker sighed, a tear wetting her face.

"Parker, you can tell me…come on…" he said to her, wishing he was there with her in that moment.

"The biological father…well…it's you, Jarod…"

Silence fell on the other part of the phone. Parker let the dust to settle, she was sure he needed to realize the huge truth he had just found out.

But Jarod didn't need to hear anything else. He already knew. From Parker's voice. From her heavy silence. From the way she had revealed him that he was the baby's father.

"You're the mother, aren't you?" he asked her.

She was boohooing now, and Jarod could feel her almost sobbing.

"How could they possibly do it, Jarod?" she asked, from a sob to the other. Jarod squeezed the phone, pulling it far from his ear just for a moment. _How could they possibly do it?_

"Jarod…I need to know…how you feel…"

Jarod had never seen baby Michael. It was one of the _scandals_ of The Centre that he had ignored, mostly for necessity. Once he had found out that Miss Parker had helped with his birth, he had felt relieved that everything went fine, but the thing had finished there. Since she had showed the interest to take care of him, anyway, everything had changed. Parker's will to ask for Michael's fosterage had become his bonnet. He had started to imagine them together, while they raised the boy who could be her brother. And now, suddenly, he realized that Michael was actually their _son_.

"We have a son…" he whispered.

Listening to Jarod pronouncing that word too, Parker finally realized that she wasn't stupid. He understood at once that Michael wasn't only another _project_ of The Centre, they were talking about a human being. A defenseless baby. _Their_ baby.

"Yeah…and you know one thing?" she said, ready to make a huge revelation "It feels good…"

Jarod nodded to himself. No, the idea to have a baby and, most of all, a baby who was biologically coming from the woman he loved, felt very good.

"We need to take him away from there, Parker…you were right…you already knew it, didn't you?"

She tried to think about her inner sense. Didn't it make her guess at once that between her and that baby there was a special bond? That bond that only between a mother and her baby could exist?

"I'm realizing just now…that I've always known…"

"I promise I'm putting an end to The Centre, Parker…and then we'll leave…you, me, and our Little Michael…"

"But when?" she asked, betraying her evident impatience.

"Soon…" he answered, ending the call. He needed to ponder, and had to do it on his own.

* * *

**THE CENTRE**

**7.03 a.m.**

Miss Parker hadn't slept at all. The thought of being under the same roof of her son without seeing him made her nervous and impatient. She hadn't called Jarod, she had to leave him alone. And she needed to think too.

Among all secrets hidden at The Centre, they had just found out the worst one. Her father, Raines, God only knows who…they had exploited their genetic material to create a new pretender. They had made a big omelet of eggs and seminal liquid, they had scrambled all together and they had poked it inside Brigitte's uterus, and maybe she didn't even know about it. Then they had made her believe that baby was her brother. And now they were raising him isolated, to use him as soon as his abilities would come to surface. Jarod's genius as a pretender and her inner sense gift. Perhaps even Jesse wasn't a better result of their genetic manipulation. But what was she saying, neither Ethan!

Sydney had watched over her all night long, trying to be close to her without saying anything. He had just held her hand, as he had done after Catherine's death. He knew that used to calm her very much, but that night it hadn't been very helpful.

After many hours spent in silence, Parker had to face the facts "I must talk with Raines…I must get the permission to visit Michael!"

"Parker…if Raines finds out that we know the truth about the baby, he will make them take him away, just as he had done with Jesse and Ethan…"

"He's my son, Syd!" she shouted "What mother would leave him in that wandering zombie's clutches?"

"We cannot show our hand, Parker…we must move cautiously…get the chance to deal with Michael without threatening Raines!"

She shook her head. "Jarod is right…I should take the baby, run away and disappear off-the-face…" she continued, by now losing her reason.

"So you'd spend your whole life in running…and you deserve much more…you must be patient…"

"I've been patient my whole life, Syd. Now I can't do it anymore…"

"But you have to, Parker…"

"Why?"

"Because it's your destiny, remember?"

Miss Parker thought again about the Prophecies for the first time. She had almost forgotten them, after the revelation on Michael's identity.

"The Scrolls say…that the Angel and the Chosen will cooperate to destroy The Centre and eventually they will succeed…"

Sydney nodded at her words.

"The last hope for The Centre will be their legacy…born within The Centre…" Miss Parker continued. Now she was understanding the interpretation of those words. Their legacy. Their _descent_.

"Born within The Centre and final promise to make it rise again…" she said.

Sydney touched his chin. "Do you reckon…it's Michael we're talking about?"

The voices became louder, more insistent. _Your son_. _Legacy_.

"I'm sure. This explains many things…my father jumped in the ocean not to let me find out about my fate, not to let me and Jarod find out about the baby…but he hadn't bargained on my inner sense…"

Sydney smiled, proud of the woman's stubbornness.

"The Triumvirate knows about the secrets of the Scrolls. Do you think they talked about them with Raines and Lyle?"

She shook her head. "No, they didn't, otherwise I'd be already dead."

Besides the cynicism showed by Miss Parker, Sydney had to admit that she was probably right.

* * *

**JACKSONVILLE - Florida**

Jarod didn't sleep at all, just as Miss Parker. Unlike the woman, yet, he had spent the whole in night concocting plans. Plans that, once simulated with his qualities, proved to be one more disastrous than the other. At first he thought to get in secret inside The Centre and take Michael away, but that meant to condemn his son to a life of departures and escapes. Then he thought he could kidnap Lyle to convince him to hand Michael over him gently, but then he remembered that blackmail wasn't the right strategy with Miss Parker's brother.

With Raines as headman of The Centre, the situation wasn't negotiable: there was no Miss Parker to convince to surrender in exchange for her father's life, as it happened years before when he gained Major Charles's freedom.

When Ethan reached his brother, he realized he didn't have a calm night. The voices started suddenly to whisper a word. _Nephew_.

"Jarod."

"Oh, Ethan…" he greeted him carelessly, continuing his wanderings through the computer archives of The Centre in hopes of penetrating their surveillance videos.

"My sister…She found out something, didn't she?"

Jarod sighed.

"The boy…" Ethan whispered, his eyes closed. "He's her son…"

Jarod was staring at him, now. "_Our_, son" he corrected him. Ethan stood in silence, realizing that it was so trivial. Now, the dream he and his sister had for such a long time made much more sense.

"Ethan…The Centre used…" he couldn't even explain this out loud, "They created that baby in a lab, but this doesn't change the reality: Michael is our son…"

"I know…And he's the key to everything…"

"You're talking about the prophecies?" Jarod asked.

Ethan gave him again the picture showing the last part of the text. Jarod read it again and memorized it.

"I think that Catherine was referring to Michael too, when she advised me and your sister of a danger hidden inside The Centre…She defined it as a terrible secret, born from the two of us…"

"Do you reckon Michael could be dangerous because he's going to fulfill the duties he was left in care by the Scrolls?"

Jarod rubbed his face, worried. "I don't know what to think, by now…I wasn't prepared for anything like this…Until a few months ago I was just a pretender on the run, today instead I'm the Chosen, father of a predestined son…"

Ethan came nearer to him and put his arm on his brother's shoulders. "Big brother…If there's something I've learnt is that nothing is determined. If it weren't for you and my sister, I wouldn't be here…"

"But, the Scrolls…"

"Forget it, Jarod. Now you have to think just about your free will, which always gave you the chance to choose. You refused to cooperate with The Centre and you escaped. You rose against a reality that had deprived you of your family and you're finding it, piecemeal. For God sakes, you even re-built the lost relationship with my sister!"

"And that was no small feat, believe me!" he replied, with a grin.

"My mother will lead us…Margaret and her paved our way. Now we must complete it and finish this thing…"

In that moment the algorithms Jarod had created to filter the surveillance videos of The Centre started to work. He connected with SL-19 and started to wander from one camera to the other, until he found the one he was interested to. In an almost empty room, inside a crib, there was Michael, playing with some cubes. Jarod made a zoom to frame better his son's face.

When he saw him smiling, Jarod started to weep for joy. It never happened to him, before. He had never felt those kind of emotions for someone he didn't even know. And yet, that baby was his son. He had never been looking for him, but now he was right in front of his face, smiling and playing. And the more he looked at him, the more he recognized in those eyes something of his. His smile, instead, was all his mother's.

Ethan squeezed Jarod's shoulder, he was still touched and couldn't speak, such was the emotion. It was the first time he was seeing his nephew, but for Jarod that was the first time he was seeing his _son_.

Realizing that he needed a few moments on his own, he went away discreetly. Jarod took his mobile phone and dialed the number by heart.

* * *

Parker was still sitting and talking with Sydney, when her phone rang. She ran and caught it, then she answered without lingering.

"What?" she asked, but forgetting her usual imperative tone.

Jarod was still breathing fast, he didn't know what to say.

"Jarod, is that you?" she asked in a whisper.

While he was touching the screen, imagining to be actually touching that superb baby, Jarod answered "You know…he's really wonderful…"

Guessing what Jarod was talking about, she gave Sydney a look and he understood he was in the way. He lefther office just as she reached her computer.

Jarod was sending her a safe link to get access to the video he was looking at.

When Parker opened it, her son's beautiful smile appeared to fill her computer's screen.

"Yeah…I'd love to say that we were good, but actually we didn't do anything…"

Jarod guessed her interior conflict, because that was the same he had. "Maybe, for once, The Centre didn't make a mistake…"

"My father played again at being God, Jarod…he used Brigitte as a incubator…do you think she knew?"

"Uhm…Judging by the way she was bonded to the baby, I don't think so…she would have never carried our son in her womb…"

"I'm still wondering…when they…"

"Took your eggs?"

She hushed, finding peace in Michael's smile.

"Does it matter anymore?"

"You're right."

They hushed for a few seconds. Then, suddenly, Michael laughed, and he pronounced two words "Mum…Dad!"

His gaze turned to the camera, with the result that it seemed he was looking at them. Miss Parker stood up, worried. Jarod felt his heartbeat increasing suddenly.

"My god…" she whispered, touching her chest. Again that feeling of nausea coming to her. This time, she couldn't resist. She ran to the bathroom and vomited, yet without closing the call. Jarod realized what was happening.

"Parker! Parker!"

She took again the phone after a couple of minutes, coming back to her desk.

"It happened again?"

"I've got stronger attacks, now…"

Jarod snorted, worried.

"I asked you not to neglect yourself…"

"We must think about Michael, first…and The Centre."

"Concerning this, yesterday I called an NSA agent, an old friend of mine…I've sent her some information to convince her open an investigation."

"Fine." she answered.

"What will you do?"

"We stay here in hell…and I'm trying to discover what project the Triumvirate has for Michael…and for us."

"What do you mean?"

"Sydney thinks my life is in danger…"

"What makes him think that?"

"Angelo…He's been blabbing about a danger for you and me…I believed he was talking about the same danger my mother told us, but I'm not so sure anymore…"

The little Michael laughed again, so his parents focused on what had happened before.

"Do you think he has my…inner sense?"

"We had proof a few seconds ago…" Jarod answered, convinced.

"This time Raines is going through with it. He won't miss out on a boy who could potentially be the best pretender The Centre ever had."

"They'll have to do it over my dead body…before making my son live what I've been through!" he snarled.

"For once in a lifetime, I agree with you…"

Jarod felt his father's presence at his shoulders and realized he had to end the conversation.

"I have to go, Parker…"

"I know…"

Ending the call, Jarod turned around towards the Major.

"Jarod…what's going on?"

Jarod sighed. "Call Emily and Jesse also…They must know this too…"

* * *

**THE CENTRE**

**8.47 a.m.**

Broots entered Miss Parker's office with the air of someone who hasn't slept well. He too, like his two colleagues, had spent the night pondering about what he had discovered and wondering how he could help the person he considered as a sister now.

"News?" he asked Sydney. She wasn't there at that moment.

Sydney shook his head "No, but Jarod sent us a link to access to the surveillance cameras…Now we can keep an eye on the baby."

"One day, he's going to explain to me how he always does it…" Broots replied, bewildered by Jarod's skills in eluding The Centre security mainframe. But, anyway, he was the one who created almost all of them!

"Where's Miss Parker?"

"In the devil's nest…"

* * *

Raines had summoned Miss Parker urgently. Angelo hadn't been very helpful, because Jarod had practically disappeared. After his sighting in Blue Cove, his tracks got lost. It seemed like if the pretender had decided not to leave crumbs for them anymore.

Since the conversation he had with Sydney the day before, now Raines wanted to make sure that Miss Parker was still on their side. And most of all, he had to figure out if the woman had found out something she shouldn't.

"You wanted to see me?"

"Miss Parker…how is the hunt for Jarod going?"

"Slow and ineffective, as always…our _enfant prodige_ decided he's not having fun anymore with his gifts and presents for us. Maybe he's having a reflective-break…" she replied, maintaining her consumed-huntress-tone. In the end, she had acted like that for years.

"The Triumvirate is unhappy…our research have been unfruitful for too long, they're convinced that somebody is helping Jarod from the inside…"

"Don't look at me…if it were for me, Jarod would have been in an isolated cellar years ago…where he would not be driving me crazy with his damned clues!"

"And yet." Raines answered, with a grim look. "It didn't seem to me that you were thinking so, when we found you on that island…"

Now Parker was really exhausted. How could she convince that man – her _father_?! – that she wasn't helping Jarod, while that had been her very occupation for days?

"Listen to me, subspecies of creeping-warm…Jarod is out there, somewhere, and the only connection he always had with this madhouse is his relationship with your colleague Dr. Freud, who does whatever he can to act like a mommy, to him…it's true, along the way he left me clues and souvenirs and tried to taint the memory of my mother and the name of my father…but all of this just made me much more determined to catch him and bring him back here…"

Raines seemed satisfied, now.

"On that island, I just used his abilities to find the Scrolls…and if I'm not wrong, the strategy we adopted had success!"

Raines didn't need to hear anything more. He recognized the daughter he'd always loved to have grown, in that moment. He felt close to her and decided it was the right time to give her a piece of truth.

Just when she was leaving, he stopped her "It was true…what you've asked us on that plane…Mr. Parker wasn't your biological father…"

Miss Parker opened her eyes wide and turned around. Was that actually happening?

"By that time, we already knew Mr. Parker couldn't have any children…He was the one who asked me to allow the artificial insemination of your mother, so that he could have an heir…The Centre experiments were just cutting edge, in those years…the experiment had a good result…"

Parker came nearer to him, disturbed by the way that viscid serpent had just revealed to her he was her biological father. She was so tired of all those _genetic_ revelations.

When she was at his nose, she started to whisper nastily, "Even if in my veins there's your blood, you'll **never** have my trust, neither my forgiveness…for killing my mother…"

"If you knew how things happened, you'd change your mind, my daughter…"

Miss Parker, disgusted, gave him a provocative look, then reached the door. She decided to take that chance to obtain something, after that terrible conversation.

"I want to see my brother…or should I call him…my cousin?!"

Raines wasn't so convinced he wanted to allow her to. He was afraid of some foolish act from her. But after all, the baby was so young, and aside from some routine experiments to stimulate his inner sense and his abilities as pretender, his real training hadn't started yet. In the end, it was something he owes his daughter.

"I'm giving you access to Sublevel 19…"

"Am I supposed to thank you, _daddy_?!" she said with great irony.

"Now I'm all that comes near to that figure, for you…Mr. Parker is missing and won't come back anymore…"

Parker laughed. She was loath to think how many lies could come from that man's mouth.

"You know, there's something you don't understand and neither did my father…I had just one paternal figure…and it's none of you…"

"The same person who was a _mommy_ to Jarod?" he said, quoting Parker's words.

"Sydney was the only one who stood by me during my whole life…and Jarod had always been right on this: he might be a mentally-disturbed-pretenders babysitter, but he was always there for us…"

And when she said those words, she realized that she'd always wanted Sydney to be her real father…

"Maybe one day you'll find out…that I would have been much a better father than the one you had…even better than Sydney." Raines answered.

"Don't – count – on – it!" she concluded, spelling every word in rage.

So said, she exited, leaving Raines alone. The man smiled to himself, thinking that perhaps that conversation could amend the many mistakes he had made in his entire life.

And the first had been letting Sydney starting to be a father to the girl he had never been able to call daughter. He took his phone and called his loyal sweeper Willie. "I've got an assignment for you…there's someone who put a spoke in my wheel once too often…"

* * *

As soon as she got the pass for Sublevel 19, Miss Parker ran to visit Michael, accompanied by Broots – not to be much showy.

When she reached the baby's room, she hurried to get inside to hold him. He couldn't imagine she would find her brother Lyle.

"What the hell are you doing here?" he screamed, while evaluating some clinical charts. He seemed very surprised at her being there.

"Surprised to see me here, bro? To all appearances our beloved newfound daddy decided to give me the kingdom keys too…" she replied, showing him her magnetic card.

Lyle snorted "He shouldn't have…you're too emotional, you wouldn't understand…"

"Understand what? That you're raising a…a baby… again to become a pretender who will substitute for the fugitive we've been chasing for years?"

Broots looked at her in total admiration. It was unbelievable how she could keep her nerve in that situation: there she was, in front of her own son, risking to spend his all life at The Centre, and yet she wasn't batting an eyelid and kept her sarcastic façade.

What they couldn't actually know was that there was also somebody else looking at that video. In fact, Jarod was keeping Michael's room under control. He sat at his computer with Ethan and Jesse, still a bit upset for the umpteenth revelation about The Centre. The three of them hung on Miss Parker's words, while she was giving Lyle a piece of her mind.

"The baby is the key for the future of The Centre…It's our clients who carry on this rollercoaster, Parker…no sims, no clients, no money…you couldn't afford neither a rag anymore…and judging by what you always wear, I'd say you like playing and being snobbish" Lyle blurted.

Parker moved closer to him. "Not as much as you love to seize and torture innocent unlucky Asian girls, Lyle…Even if that is a bad habit that could cost you a lot…"

Jarod was enraptured. He hadn't often heard Miss Parker thundering against Lyle. But watching her so furious towards him and listening to her answering that way, made him realize that those years of tricks and clues to make her discover Lyle's past, had been worth it.

"He's just a means, Miss Parker…the boy is going to grow and he'll become a very good pretender…" Lyle explained.

"What makes you believe that? It doesn't seem to me that his mother's IQ was much higher than a late-evening-soubrette's one…"

A smile came out automatically on Jarod's face, and also on Ethan's one. Jesse had met Brigitte, and he couldn't help but agreeing with Miss Parker: she wasn't a genius.

Obviously Lyle couldn't answer the woman, because he couldn't tell her the truth about the little Michael's parents. But there was something: Lyle didn't know that Miss Parker had already found out everything.

"You just think about Jarod and returning him to The Centre…Raines and I are taking care of the baby…you don't have to worry about him, it's not your business…" he concluded, turning around.

Miss Parker clenched her fists and almost attacked her brother, but Broots stopped her.

"Don't do it, Parker!" Jarod shouted while watching the scene. If she let herself go, if she told Lyle the truth, he would discover that the attachment the woman felt for the baby came from elsewhere. He would find out she _knew_. Jarod was relieved when he saw her calming down. The little Michael, meanwhile, called her.

"Parker!" he said.

Afraid that Michael would call her again "mummy", she took him in her arms "You're right, little boy, that's our last name…" she whispered.

Lyle noticed the maternal attitude of his sister, and took advantage to make a joke. "You're spineless, Parker…Emotions are making you soft."

She was sorely tempted to thrust the chart he was reading inside his mouth, but obviously she didn't do it.

"Pay attention to emotions." her brother whispered to her. "If you let yourself go, they can submerge you until you drown!"

"I'll remember…" she concluded, through clenched teeth.

Lyle exited the room.

"What a woman…" the three _brothers_ said in perfect unison.

"Damn it, I'd love to be all of a sudden twenty years older to be you!" Jesse let out.

Jarod smiled and patted him on his shoulder. "Maybe The Centre cloned her too…I'm inquiring about it…"

"Very funny!" the boy replied.

Miss Parker was cuddling Michael, while Broots read the charts left by Lyle. Apparently they were making many routine-exams, a lot of character and intelligence tests. They couldn't speak freely under the cameras, so Miss Parker said goodbye to her baby kissing his forehead, then she left when she saw a doctor entering the room. Once back in the safety area, she and Broots stopped.

"You were a-amazing, Miss Parker…" he confessed to her.

The woman, strangely, smiled. "Thank you, Watson…Now let's go back to work. We have to catch Jarod, don't' we?"

Broots smiled too.

* * *

**Hope you're enjoying it! :)**


	10. Chapter 10: Execution

**DISCLAIMER**

Another chapter, another story. Threats in the shadows and tragic events on our way.

As always, comments are really appreciated.

This time I have to thank to **Antoinette**, who still helped me through this chapter. And a huge thank to the lovely **DanielleSmileyFace**, my new Beta Reader for Mind Rain. Thanks a lot! Your help is very much appreciated!

* * *

**Chapter 10: Execution**

**JACKSONVILLE - Florida**

**5.17 p.m.**

Jarod and Ethan had spent the whole day doing some investigating about the Triumvirate. It wasn't easy to find out who the effective members of the organization were, neither its financiers. But at least now they knew where it was. By controlling the visitors' movements, they could discover the names of some big shots to give Agent Zane.

"It's not easy…" Ethan confessed, after hours of research. Major Charles was helping them, too.

"We can't give up, boy" he said. Jarod agreed with his father.

"I created a program to monitor all Triumvirate e-mails some time ago…They're very good at covering their communications, but they can't keep them from me…Lately, even though, they have been strangely silent…since we got back from the island…"

"Since they got the Scrolls…" Ethan corrected him.

"When you were down there…" Jarod said "Did you ever see anyone of them? Would you recognize their faces, if you saw them?"

Ethan shook his head, "I had to be very careful not to be seen, Jarod…The only one I actually noticed was Mr. Parker…"

Jarod snorted. And at that very moment, his program finally gave some results.

"Apparently our African friends just sent an e-mail to our beloved Raines…"

* * *

At that very moment, Raines was in his office, reading the Triumvirate's answer to his request. His madness had reached exaggerated levels, he had decided to adjust the bones he still had to pick. Sydney had ruined his entire life. He had stolen the only valuable pretender The Centre ever had, he had been a father to his biological daughter, he had helped Jarod aid in Gemini and Ethan's escape…If he didn't stop him, he would probably find out the importance of the little bastard that Brigitte had carried in her womb. It was just the product of an experiment, in his eyes. And yet, come to think of it, that baby was his grandson…

Willie had been put on the alert. As soon as Raines gave the order, he would move and eliminate the "Sydney problem" once and for all. A well-placed bullet would be enough to close the matter.

But he couldn't act without an official reason, and most of all he couldn't without having the Triumvirate's permission. Until then, Raines hadn't told anything to the Africans about Sydney's involvement with Jarod, since the shrink was the only bond that the Pretender had with the Centre. With Sydney dead, Jarod would have disappeared, and so he would have said goodbye to all his hopes of ever finding him.

But now the situation was different. The doctor was getting more dangerous, and he was asking too many questions. Raines was sure that his questioning about Project _Mind Rain_ was no coincidence.

When he opened the message in his safe mailbox, Raines's eyes brightened up.

"It seems that your lucky days are over, Doctor Freud…"

So said, he called Willie, "The moment has come, Willie. I want things to be clean, no witnesses, are we clear?"

"Yes, Mr. Raines", he answered, putting the silencer on his gun.

* * *

Jarod had intercepted the message, but he hadn't been able to decipher it yet, because he had to use different software to do it, and sometimes the Triumvirate codification algorithms were very complex.

"What is that about?" Ethan asked, a bit worried. The voices were getting louder and more insistent.

"I don't know yet…"

§

Sydney was in Angelo's room, trying to discover what Lyle had wanted him to do in the last days. The empath seemed much more relaxed since Miss Parker had invited him to calm down and be clear-headed. It seemed that she always had that weird ascendancy over Angelo. Maybe that was a heritage of their shared childhood.

"Angelo…tell me what was it Lyle wanted you to do…"

"Find…Jarod…" he answered, smiling, "But Jarod doesn't want to be found…"

Angelo was making one of his grins, one of those faces that Sydney had learned to interpret as an expression saying, '_I'm always a step ahead of you and so I'm having the time of my life!_'

Sydney smiled "You're right, Angelo…our Jarod is very good at putting us off the scent…"

Suddenly, Angelo changed his face and hit the deck, agonizing in pain.

"Danger…danger!" he cried, rolling on the floor.

Sydney thought at once about Miss Parker, who was still in her office with Broots, with whom she was creating fake clues to chase Jarod and give The Centre the idea that they were still working to catch him.

"Who's in danger, Angelo? Jarod?" he asked, worried.

Angelo shook his head rapidly.

§

Ethan heard the voices increasing in intensity, but they were overlapping themselves to such an extent that he couldn't understand what they were saying.

"What's going on, little brother?" Jarod asked him, noticing his concentration.

"I think…something's going on…" he explained, his eyes closed.

"Miss Parker?!" Jarod asked, very worried.

"No, no…it's someone else…"

§

Angelo was still moving, and Sydney couldn't help him. Very few times he had seen him so freaked out.

"Angelo! Please, calm down…"

"No…danger!" he screamed again, standing up and running out of the room.

"Angelo!" Sydney cried. He left all his things in the room, even the encrypted mobile given to him by Jarod. He started to follow Angelo through all The Centre corridors.

§

Jarod heard the signal made by the decipher software that indicated a complete translation, so he focused on the Triumvirate's e-mail.

"Object…_Execution_…That doesn't seem to be good…"

_Seeing your frequent warnings about the doctor's conduct, _

_we authorize his immediate execution. _

_We won't allow him to go on and help the pretender on the run._

_Eliminate Refuge, once and for all._

Jarod didn't need to read more to understand the situation. He took his phone and stood up, starting to pace back and forth in real worry.

"Jarod, what does it mean?" Ethan asked, the voices more and more involved and present in his head.

"Come on, Syd, answer…please Sydney!" he said, speaking out loud.

The phone was idle for a minute, so Jarod ended the call.

"Damn it!" he shouted.

* * *

Sydney was trying to reach Angelo. He was running towards Sublevel 19, but he didn't understand why.

"Angelo, stop! Let me help you!"

"No, Sydney…danger!"

The doctor didn't think for a second that Angelo was indicating that he was the target, that time. He couldn't know that Willie was following him to find the most suitable place to kill him.

§

Parker was in her office with Broots. She was checking the fake banking movements created for Jarod with one eye, while the other was set on little Michael through the surveillance videos well visible on her computer.

Aside from the continual coming and going of doctors and nurses, the boy seemed to be healthy, intelligent and still unaware of his destiny in the world.

Her mobile phone started to ring, so she ran answering, "What?!"

"Miss Parker, I must talk with Sydney, now!" a very worried Jarod's voice answered her from the other side.

"I haven't seen him for a couple of hours, he was working with Angelo…what's going on?"

"If we don't warn him at once, he's going to die!"

§

Angelo had reached Sublevel 19, where he hoped to take Sydney to save him. He knew that Miss Parker was checking the cameras, he had the feeling. Maybe in that way she would see the doctor in time and would come to warn him and save his life.

"Angelo…why did you come here? Is the boy in danger?"

"No…Sydney…" he answered, but he found only the doctor's curious gaze, and his shortness of breath for the long run.

§

"I've just intercepted an e-mail from the Triumvirate which consented to an immediate execution of Sydney…you must find him, Parker!" Jarod urged her.

She didn't need to be told twice. She took her 9mm from the drawer and checked that it was loaded. While doing this, her eyes fell on the computer screen and she noticed at once Angelo and Sydney's presence in one of the four surveillance cameras.

"Move, Broots!" she shouted to the technician.

"What's going on?"

"Sydney is in danger…" she answered, exiting the office in a rush.

§

Sydney and Angelo were leaning against the wall next to the door that gave access to Sublevel 19. Angelo now was breathing easy, still shaken and upset.

"Sydney…danger!"

For the first time, Sydney realized that maybe Angelo wasn't talking about someone else, but was trying to tell him that _he_ was the one in danger.

§

Willie hid in the shadows, he was trying to understand how much Angelo could be considered as a "witness", in that business. Raines asked him for a clean job, without indiscrete eyes watching. But after all, Angelo was no normal person. Instead, Willie wasn't sure he could be considered as a _person_ at all.

§

Jarod got inside the surveillance video and realized, as Miss Parker had, that Sydney was just close to his son's room, "Sydney!"

"He can't hear you, Jarod…" Ethan explained.

"But I have to save him!"

* * *

Meanwhile, Miss Parker and Broots were running like hell to reach Sublevel 19.

"D'you reckon that the person who wants to kill Sydney is going to do it in broad daylight, under everyone's eyes?"

"With my mother, the problem didn't even arise, did it?" she asked, thinking about Catherine's fake murder in the main elevator of The Centre. Broots had to admit that she was right.

§

Sydney felt something, as if somebody was watching him. Angelo motioned to him to be quiet, putting a finger on his lips. In that moment, they were hidden behind a wall, but behind them somebody was ready to get closer and kill the only person who had ever taken care of him since he had been a child. He couldn't allow them to hurt Sydney, even if he couldn't communicate this out loud to him.

§

Willie took aim, ready to shoot as soon as Sydney showed himself.

Then Jarod saw him, from another camera. Willie was still, aiming with his gun, equipped with a silencer. In another camera, Jarod saw Angelo raising his face, as if he was looking at him.

"What is he doing?" Ethan asked.

Jarod noticed that Angelo was smiling and moving his lips, as if he was trying to say something.

"I don't understand…" Jarod whispered, desperate for the situation. He had learnt to read lips, but he couldn't understand what Angelo wanted.

Ethan closed his eyes, "Lights…" he whispered, guided by the voices.

"Of course!"

§

Parker and Broots arrived at the entrance of the main corridor of Sublevel 19, Parker aiming the gun in front of herself with circumspection. Broots was moving behind her, being careful not to make any noise.

Angelo hoped that he had sent the right message.

"Angelo, what shall we do?" Sydney whispered, worried and powerless in facing uncertain danger.

"Lights…" the empath whispered.

In that moment, all the sublevel lost their energy, with the result that all lights were turned off, all the zones were left in darkness.

Jarod was proudly contemplating his work: the cameras had an infrared visual, so he used it. Willie seemed afraid of that sudden change and he looked around, trying to get his eyes used to darkness.

Praying that Parker had her phone with her, Jarod called her.

§

Parker took the phone, which she had asked Broots to switch to silent mode. Another little help from her inner sense, or maybe just _common_ sense.

"Where are they?" she whispered.

"Willie is alone…He's hidden behind a pillar about 50 meters from you. Sydney and Angelo are at the end of the corridor, for the moment they're invisible…but I won't be able to keep the lights off for long, as soon as The Centre notices the voltage drop, they're going to re-establish the circuit…"

"Great!" she growled in answer, giving Broots the mobile but without ending the call.

Then she started to move slowly towards the direction indicated by Jarod. Meanwhile, Willie made a few steps forward. Sydney and Angelo were just two, and that was the ideal chance to kill the shrink without anybody else watching him.

§

"Angelo…what shall we do?" Sydney asked again, spying over the wall and hearing the light footsteps coming right towards them.

Angelo didn't know what to answer. He was just praying that Jarod and Miss Parker would help them in time.

§

Miss Parker walked slowly, but she couldn't see anything in front of her. The darkness was absolute.

Willie was in the same condition, but he had an advantage: he was in front of her, so it didn't take long to him to hear her heels behind him. Without need to think twice, he turned around suddenly and shot blindly. Miss Parker was faster, or at least her inner sense was. She threw Broots on the floor and she stepped aside, too, hearing the shots ringing out very close by.

§

"Parker! Broots!" Jarod exclaimed into the phone.

But the phone, during the jump, had fallen on the floor in the middle of the corridor. Jarod's voice was echoing in the silence left by the shots.

"I know you're here!" the sweeper said out loud.

Sydney was nervous, worried for the fate of those who had come down there to save him and Angelo. He didn't understand how it could be, but he knew he was risking his life.

Miss Parker indicated Broots to stay where he was and leave the phone on the floor. Willie changed his mind and turned back in their direction, intending to eliminate those who had followed him down there.

"Parker! Please, answer me!" Jarod's voice was shouting.

Willie seemed much too focused on the phone to realize what was happening behind him. Sydney didn't want to freeze, waiting for the death, and mostly he couldn't allow Miss Parker to risk her life to save _his_.

Suddenly he stood up and ran against Willie blindly, starting to tackle him.

"No…Sydney!" Angelo cried.

Parker stood up rapidly and in that very moment all the lights turned on and blinded them all. Using his senses, Sydney continued his fight with Willie to seize his gun, but the sweeper was much stronger than him and much faster. He threw him on the floor and Sydney collapsed, helpless.

While Parker was trying to get used to the light again, she aimed her gun in front of her.

"Sydney!" she screamed.

* * *

Jarod was looking at the scene with fear, and he realized at once that his mentor couldn't make it against Willie. At the same time, Parker was a much easier target, she had to hurry in getting a hold on herself.

"Parker, use your inner sense!" Ethan shouted, trying to concentrate very intensely on his sister.

§

Everything happened in a second: Parker closed her eyes and shot blindly, thinking about the foolish desire to prevent Willie from killing the only man who had been a father to her all those years. At the same time, yet, Willie shot in the direction of the man at his feet, placing the bullet the most precisely he could. The two shots came at the very same moment. A second later, two bodies fell down.

§

Jarod was looking at the scene with opened mouth. Willie had been gunned down from the shot Miss Parker had placed right in his nape.

When Parker opened her eyes, she ran over Willie's still body and she saw Sydney on the floor, right next to Angelo. A pool of blood was expanding beneath them, Sydney had his hands completely soiled of it.

"Sydney!" she screamed, starting to cry.

"It's not mine…" Sydney whispered.

While Raines and Lyle reached them, Parker squeezed Angelo's hand, because he was the one who was losing blood from his chest. Willie had hit him close to his heart.

"Angelo…Angelo, please hold up!" she shouted.

Sydney was pressing on the wound. Broots reached them, with Miss Parker's mobile phone in his hands.

"Call someone, Broots!" Jarod shouted form the other side, then he closed the communication, terrorized at the idea of losing another _brother_.

Ethan was squeezing his shoulder.

Angelo had his eyes half-closed, his mouth curved in a little smile "Sydney…Miss Parker…safe…" he said, with sincere joy.

"You're going to be ok, Angelo…you must hang on…don't give up, you understand me?" Sydney screamed.

Broots was still calling for the doctors, while Sydney pressed on Angelo's chest with all the strength he had. His blood was still coming out from his wound, the hemorrhage seemed to be unstoppable.

"Miss Parker…Jarod…danger…" Angelo whispered. Once again, he was trying to advise the only friends he ever had of the great danger approaching. He felt that somebody would do everything to kill them, as they had just tried with Sydney.

Hearing those words, a very angry Raines left the corridor. Lyle didn't understand what was going on, or why Willie had a hole in his head. He just knew that they couldn't afford losing Angelo, he was much too important to The Centre.

"I've called the doctors, they're looking for a stretcher!" Broots shouted.

"Fine!" Lyle said, a bit louder than he intended. Parker sent him a questioning look.

"Miss Parker…friend…Jarod…friend…" Angelo whispered.

§

From the other part of the camera, the pretender couldn't help crying at the words of his dying friend.

"Angelo…" he whispered "Hold on, please…"

Parker squeezed his hand tighter and got closer to his ear, "Don't you dare die and leave me here alone, do you understand?!"

Angelo smiled and closed his eyes, he was now unconscious. Sydney touched his wrist and felt his pulse getting weaker and weaker. At that moment, a doctor and a nurse came from the corridor with a stretcher and a defibrillator.

They put Angelo on the stretcher and started to move rapidly towards the highest Centre levels, where they would reach the hospital wing.

Parker was still crying, the gun held in her right hand. The other was completely covered with blood, and so were her clothes and the floor. Sydney was shaken.

"I'd better go and call for a cleaning team…Willie's body must disappear…by the way, nice job, sis-"

Parker didn't let him finish the sentence and silenced him with a look that would incinerate the Antarctic. Lyle disappeared, his mobile still at his ears to call other sweepers.

"Who might have wanted us dead?" Sydney asked her, still astonished.

"Not both of you…just _you_…Jarod advised us in time, but it wasn't enough...to save Angelo…"

"He put himself in the middle…he was between me and the bullet… he saved my life…" he explained to Miss Parker.

"This seems the destiny of all of us Centre victims…put ourselves between a shot…and a father figure…" she said sarcastically.

Stunned by her words, Sydney felt guilty. Angelo had tried to save _him_, the one who had exploited his abilities for years…

Miss Parker's mobile rang, and Broots gave it to her, who held it in sufferance. She didn't answer, she let _him_ be the one to speak.

"Ethan and I are leaving in an hour. Just be ready for when I arrive."

"Ready for what? Another defeat?" she replied, saddened.

"We're taking our son out of there, Parker…and I swear I'm going to blow up The Centre once and for all…"

The communication ended. Parker stared at the phone, a bit surprised, a bit worried.

"What did he say?" Sydney asked her.

"That time has come to stop watching the people we love die…" she explained.

* * *

**Hey, still reading? Let me know if you still like it!**

**Reviews are food for the soul! :)**


	11. Chapter 11: Good Old Times

**DISCLAIMER**

I know I left you last time with out beloved Angelo almost dying.  
I hope you appreciate this new chapter. I couldn't let go such a lovely character. Angelo was one of the things that made The Pretender such a great show, I've always loved him.  
And of course it's time for a new surprise. And I guess almost all of you had already sensed it coming.

Not an English speaker, blah blah blah.

See previous chapters to know the reasons why I'm not really the best writer around here! :)

Thanks a lot to **Nancy** and **Virginie59** for their reviews of the previous chapter!

And remember to thank my wonderful Beta Readers, **Antoinette** & **DanielleSmileyFace**!

* * *

**Chapter 11: Good Old Times**

**MISS PARKER'S HOUSE**

**10.15 p.m.**

Miss Parker had spent the rest of that day in the hospital E.R. where Angelo had been brought. Doctors had said his situation was critic and that he had lost much, too much blood. Willie's shot had hit him very close to his heart, perforating a lung and sending poor Angelo into a coma. Doctors didn't know if he'd last through the night, but they couldn't do anything else for him.

When Sydney realized that Miss Parker was exhausted and was having those symptoms of nausea and fatigue again, he asked Broots to drive her home. She didn't want to leave Angelo's bed, but Sydney cheered her up, making her realize that was his duty. Angelo had sacrificed himself to save **him**, not her.

She tried to insist on staying, mostly because she was afraid for Sydney's own safety, should he be alone. But he wasn't afraid for his life: whoever had given the order to kill him, now would think twice before attempting the execution.

Then Sydney showed her the little gift he had taken from his safe-deposit box: a loaded Beretta, ready to be used in case anyone should attack him again.

With the doctors' coming and going, anyway, Sydney was sure he was safe, at least until Angelo was better.

* * *

Broots escorted Miss Parker right out of her house, then he turned off the engine and waited a second, before making her notice that they had arrived.

"Miss Parker…" he called her softly, seeing that she was almost sleeping.

"Uhm…" she answered, opening her eyes.

"You're home."

"Thank you, Broots…please, go back to the hospital and keep an eye on Sydney for me, will you?"

Broots nodded, thinking that for the umpteenth time he would need to ask the babysitter to stay for the night at his place.

Miss Parker guessed what his mood was and grabbed his hand gently, as she had never done in her whole life before.

"We're doing all of this for Debbie too…to give her a better future, without nightmares, without The Centre…"

Broots knew that charming and smart woman, whom he had thought to be in love with for a while, was obviously right. It wasn't fair to oblige Debbie to live in a world of which she needed to be afraid. And Miss Parker and Jarod were working with the main purpose to make things change.

"I don't know what I would have done without you and Sydney…all these years." she confessed to him.

Broots stared at her, stunned and astonished. Was she really trying to thank him?

"Good night, Miss Parker."

"It won't be at all, Broots…" she concluded, getting out from the car.

* * *

As soon as she entered the room, she was welcomed by silence. Actually she had imagined to see Ethan sit, working at his computer, while Jarod was right next to him, waiting for her to come back. Instead, the house was dark and silent, empty.

Miss Parker turned the light on and dropped her bag on the floor. She was so upset by what had happened, that she hadn't had time to get washed, so she was still covered with Angelo's now clotted blood.

An incontrollable rage took hold of her. Better, that wasn't rage, but anxiety. She ran to the bathroom and started to rub her hands impetuously, trying to make those reddish spots disappear from her palms. Water came down through the pipes and got colored of a very bright red. Parker rubbed, and rubbed, but blood seemed never-ending.

She realized that she had kept her feelings too much time, so she took the soap dish and threw it against the mirror, screaming and crying in despair. She started to take everything within a range: towels, the shower curtain, creams, make-up. She threw everything on the floor and against the wall, tired and upset. Her shouting soon got mixed with her sobs, while her weeping got mixed with her inner voices. She could hear her mother's, inviting her not to give up. She heard Tommy's too, saying that it wasn't her fault.

But mostly she could hear the last words Angelo had told her: almost dying, he had wanted to remind her that she and Jarod were his friends. Friends that have abandoned him to a sad destiny, that hadn't been able to do anything, for him.

Crying in despair, Parker collapsed to the floor, leaning on the wall.

And then she felt his presence in front of her. She didn't need to open her eyes, she knew he was there. Jarod's face was a few inches from hers, she could feel his slow and warm breath on her skin.

Then his hand passed through her hair and moved a strand behind her ears, inviting her to lift her face to open her eyes and look at him. When Parker did as he was asking, she realized that Jarod seemed demoralized and depressed, just as her. She had seen him as desperate just once: when his brother Kyle had died.

"Doctors say…that it's likely that he won't make it…" Parker whispered, sniffing from her tears.

Even if the occasion was awful, Jarod couldn't help realize once again how beautiful she was and how much her eyes stood out now that she had cried so much. They were an intense and wonderful blue-grey.

He continued stroking her face, in silence.

"I can't go on, Jarod…should Angelo die…I could never forgive myself…"

"It wasn't your fault!" he said, firmly and resolutely. That was the point: Parker felt guilty and was getting into crisis again.

"You tried to save them both, and if it weren't for you, Sydney would be dead, and Angelo too…"

"He's an innocent man…"

"You're innocent too…we all are…"

"Where's Ethan?" Parker asked, worried.

"He said he had something to do before coming here…our brother knows what he does, he's much wiser than me…and even braver than you…"

"I've never felt brave…I'm a coward…I should have put a bomb in that monster-of-my-father's office years ago…Better, in the offices of _both_ my fathers…"

Jarod smiled, "You see? That's your courage…your sense of humor always protected you…you must resist still for a while, Parker…you have to do this for me…and for Michael." he whispered.

She realized at once that, with all the bustle, she had forgotten for a few hours the Michael-factor. How could she?

"I've asked my father to check on our son. Since he found out he has a grandson, even if in a very less unorthodox way, he has decided to become his guardian angel…he'll advise me if anything happens to him…"

She nodded, glad to have one less worry.

"I've never thought about myself as a mother…but when I hold that boy…it's as…" Parker stopped, not so sure she wanted to continue that sentence.

"You and I know much better than anyone else," he reminded her, "that it's not in bloodlines that families originate…in this case it's different, because Michael is our son _de facto_…even if we didn't look for him properly, this doesn't mean we'll love him less, when we're finally together…"

Parker smiled, thinking about that baby, "He has your eyes…"

Now Jarod was smiling too, "And your smile…" he concluded, kissing her.

Her sighs were finally over, now Parker was much calmer.

"I don't feel like being alone, tonight…I need you…" she whispered at his ear.

"Why do you think I came?"

"From your voice in our last conversation I would have sworn that you would have brought a rocket launcher to make The Centre blow up _literally_…"

"I was very angry, before…but instinct cannot prevail over reason, otherwise I would already have exterminated all men of the Parker dynasty years ago!"

Finally Parker laughed. Jarod could make her laugh in the most difficult moments, it had always been that way.

"And…before I came here I was contacted by the NSA agent I've been in touch with, Andrea Zane…"

Parker now hung on every word.

"She says she'd never seen documents so full of such horrifying details. She also said that The Centre covers its tracks very well, because nobody ever heard of it in a negative way…"

"Present company excepted?!" she satirized.

"She said that she'd opened an investigation and she'll do whatever she can to discover the list of the friends that The Centre has at the Congress. But to do so, she needs somebody inside and that's what we must provide her…"

"Do you think you can penetrate The Centre defenses without them finding out?"

"I've been doing it for the last six years…it's time to finalize my infiltrating-skills and help get justice…"

"And what about the Triumvirate?"

"I'm still working on it…Anyway I've collected so much proof over the years that it won't be difficult to frame The Centre for extortion, exploitation of children, kidnap, murder, blackmail…"

"I know, The Centre list of crimes is infinite", Parker stopped him.

Jarod nodded. Then he made her stand up and started to undress her gently, "You need a shower…You're going to relax and think things through…and no!" He stopped her before she could ask, "I won't go with you…I need to do one thing before dedicate myself completely to you…"

Guessing that Jarod wouldn't see reason, Parker obeyed and stayed alone in the bathroom. Jarod, in the meantime, went towards the bedroom and took his phone.

* * *

Sydney was holding a gun in one hand and the phone in the other. He knew Jarod would call, he knew him too well.

"This is Sydney" he said.

"I'm glad to hear your voice…"

"So am I to be able to thank you, Jarod…If it weren't for you, maybe…"

They both kept silent a few seconds, the only noise in Angelo's room was the apparatus to monitor his vital signs, that sometimes emitted a feeble "bip".

"Today, for a moment…I feared that I would have lost you…that I wouldn't have been able to tell you…"

Sydney let his pupil confide. He didn't want to interrupt him.

"I've always considered you a father, Sydney…and even if now I've found mine…you'll always have that role, to me…"

"I don't deserve your love, Jarod…after all you've been through…"

"That **we**'ve been through" he corrected Sydney, "And you made amends, Syd…I've already told you once: you're not a monster. And you'll always be my family…"

Sydney smiled, "Thank you, Jarod…"

"How's Angelo?"

"Stable…too weak to wake up, too strong to leave us…"

"He's fighting until the end, Sydney…I'd want to be there with you…"

"Angelo knows you love him! And you have to think about Miss Parker, now…she would never admit it, Jarod, but she's sick…She's constantly tired, weak, with nausea attacks…"

In that moment both Jarod and Sydney had a flash. They both had wondered about the woman's symptoms, but they had been convinced that those were side effects due to uneasiness caused by her inner sense.

"Jarod…" Sydney whispered.

The pretender didn't answer. Many years spent behaving like a doctor, and just when he would have needed to understand pregnancy evident symptoms, he hadn't even thought about it.

"Sydney! This can't be…"

Sydney smiled to himself, "Are you so sure?" he asked.

As if it might be otherwise! It was so obvious that Jarod would have wanted to shout to the world about his own stupidity.

* * *

When she came out of the bathroom, cooled down and reinvigorated after the shower, Jarod was waiting for her on the bed. On his legs he had a computer synchronized with The Centre cameras, as usual. To see Michael sleeping peacefully gave him a sense of calm that he'd never thought he could have.

"A glass of wine?" she asked.

"No!" he shouted in answer.

"Hey, calm down Boy Wonder!"

"Uhm…I'm sorry, Parker, but I think you shouldn't drink…"

"What, you're giving me a talking-to?" she asked him, a bit irritated.

"No, I'm not, it's just…"

How could he tell her what he had guessed a few minutes before? And mostly, was she ready to accept the truth, that she could actually be pregnant?

Parker seemed to realize that an inner uproar was happening inside Jarod's genius-brain.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"Parker…I was wondering about your physical condition…"

"Enough of it, I'm fine! Angelo is the one who's dying in an hospital bed, not me!"

"No, listen…all the nausea, fatigue…do you realize what would be the most obvious answer to those symptoms?"

Parker started to think, but nothing occurred to her in that moment. Or perhaps…

She stared at him and suddenly the inner voices turned up strongly, even if she didn't understand what they were saying to her.

Jarod sighed, she got it too.

Parker slowly lifted a hand and put it on her stomach. Could she actually be pregnant? She had even fainted when Broots had told her about Michael. She thought it was because of the emotion for that revelation, but maybe it wasn't. Maybe…

"How can we be sure?" she asked, with no fear. Jarod became so proud of her, in that moment.

"A blood test can reveal a pregnancy even a few days after conception…"

"Let's do it now!" she concluded. Jarod already had a syringe ready.

* * *

Sydney had a thousand thoughts in his mind. Broots had come back to the hospital to keep him company, he was sleeping on a chair at Angelo's right, now. But he couldn't sleep at all. And it wasn't fear of the sweepers, nor of anyone who wanted to kill him – and he was almost sure that was Raines.

It was the acknowledgment that things had changed so much in just a few days. The strange escape of Jarod and Miss Parker, Ethan's return, the discovery that Michael was the son of his children, and maybe now Miss Parker getting pregnant. He couldn't believe that all he had ever wished for was actually happening. Fast. Too fast. He was afraid that they wouldn't be able to accept the consequences of those changes. He feared for Jarod, because he knew that after a life spent in running it wouldn't be easy for him to put down roots. Or maybe he was just afraid that he would really depart, this time, that he would disappear into nothing and wouldn't show up anymore, now that he was going to build a _real_ family.

"Bad thoughts?" a voice at his back asked.

Sydney turned around in time to see Jarod at the door. He was wearing a white overall, he had surely pretended to be a doctor to get inside and visit Angelo. How he could possibly go unnoticed by a dozen of plain clothes sweepers, who were outside and inside the hospital, Sydney didn't even want to imagine.

"Is Miss Parker here with you?"

"No, she's home resting…I came here on my own, I had to make some tests on this blood sample." he explained, showing him a phial.

"Is it Parker's?" Sydney asked.

Jarod just nodded. Then he got closer to his sleeping friend and put a hand on his forehead.

"Angelo, my dear friend…" he whispered. He felt a huge pain in seeing that gentle and sensible man so reduced. He took a look at his vital signs, then at his medical record. He sighed, with the few hopes he still had weakening.

"Do you think he's gonna make it?" Sydney asked.

"It's too soon to tell…we can just pray…"

"I've never been really good at that…" Sydney revealed.

"Neither me…"

"You risked so much by coming here, Jarod…Leave while you can, Lyle could arrive any minute…"

"As soon as I have the test results…We need to know the truth"

"How do you think she's going to face an eventual pregnancy?" Sydney asked.

In that moment, Broots let out an incomprehensible sound that frightened them both, but then he got back to sleep. He seemed to be _very_ asleep.

"Parker already had to accept the idea that there's a boy of whom we're parents at The Centre…she's never been afraid, she didn't hesitate, not even a second. She felt she's his mother, just as I feel like I'm his father. Michael is our son…"

"But here we're talking about pregnancy…and seen her physical condition, I wouldn't be surprised if she risked her own life to finish a birth…and then she can't keep it from The Centre for long!"

Jarod smiled, he imagined for the first time what that woman used to wear high stilettos, miniskirts and leathered-adherent-trousers would do finding herself with a big tummy that would oblige her to change her working, food and social habits. The idea drove him crazy. He could already imagine himself with her, while reading a book in front of the fireplace, their baby kicking inside her tummy and maybe the other one playing in his bed. He could imagine himself while changing diapers and fetching Michael at the kindergarten. He suddenly realized that he'd never wanted anything else more in his whole life.

"I think Parker is a fighter…and from how she reacted at the news, I'd say that she wasn't surprised at all…"

"Meaning?"

"Once again, actually, she already knew, she'd always known. Her inner sense does not lie…"

At that moment a nurse appeared at the doorstep, "Doctor Algren?"

He turned around.

"The results of the urgent analysis you've requested."

"Thank you very much!" he answered, taking the medical record.

"So?" Sydney asked, not able to wait a second more.

"Did I miss something?" Broots asked them, awake since a few seconds and surprised as never before to see Jarod right in front of him.

"I'd say so…" he whispered, in answer.

* * *

Miss Parker sat on her bed, wearing an old sweatshirt and a couple of trousers from a decade before, she used to wear them as pajamas just when she had to do the laundry.

She continuously touched her belly as if in a daze. She didn't even know if she was really pregnant, but it seemed to her that she could feel something inside her. She was different. And it wasn't just those physical changes that made her think, it was the way she felt. Incredibly…happy.

She couldn't understand why: the afternoon events, Angelo's condition, risks they were facing at The Centre, the uncontrollable situation…Whoever should go through such a life, should feel at least desperate. But not her.

To Miss Parker, those last eight days had been like the end of nightmare that lasted too many years. She hadn't been herself for too long, she knew it. She had been her _real_ self only with him, with Jarod. The only one who had goaded her to find her identity again. To find the secrets of her past. The only one who had accepted her faults and helped her understand her strengths. The only one who always accepted her for what she was, who had protected her, who had loved her. And now he had made her the greatest present, the gift of freedom. Freedom from lies and, maybe soon, even from The Centre.

And now they already had a baby waiting for them, and maybe even…a second one coming. She had never seen herself as the maternal kind. She'd never thought about herself with a big tummy, not even when she was with Tommy. And yet now she continuously touched her belly, thinking how exciting it might be to feel a baby kicking. Thinking how much she would enjoy to feel her Boy Wonder's hands touching to hear their baby's movements. They would have what they had denied them with Michael…

Her thoughts were interrupted by Jarod's return, he moved silently towards her, with the hospital record still in his hand.

"How's Angelo?" she asked him at first.

"Stable…too soon to know if he's gonna make it…"

She nodded and kept silent, even if she was willing to know the results of her blood analysis test.

Jarod reached the bed and sat down next to her. He was very serious, almost sorry. That made her think of two hypothesis: either she was pregnant and he was unhappy with that, or she wasn't pregnant at all.

They hadn't talked about their feelings, she couldn't know if he would be happy for the news should that be true. But she realized that a second later.

Jarod put his hands on hers and lifted them, shifting them on her belly.

"You know what I'd really love?" he asked, whispering.

"What?" she questioned, not understanding yet. The pretender looked at her right in the eyes. Then he started to smile.

"If it was a girl…"

Parker felt her nose itching, realizing she was going to cry. But she was satisfied, because those were tears of joy, not of agony.

Jarod kissed her forehead and stroked her face. She cried, even if she was smiling.

"You're n-not…angry?" she had the courage to ask.

He sneered, "Yes, I am. I'm very angry…because I didn't realize it before! And they say I'm the genius!" he explained, making her laugh.

He kissed a couple of her teardrops, finding them deliciously salty. He couldn't stop touching her belly.

"What an irony…until a week ago I didn't have a stable relationship, nor children, neither a life, if we think about it…I just kept chasing an intelligent and arrogant fellow, even a bit opinionated, who sometimes used to call in the dark of night to scoff at me…I wanted to crack his fingers every time he hung up on my face!"

Jarod giggled, "And what about now?"

"Now…I've been involved, in spite of myself, with a…charming evil genius, who seduced me, got me pregnant and…oh, did you know that we also have another child?"

Jarod kissed gently that wonderful woman's belly, "It won't always be like that…it's going to be over soon, I promise you!"

"I don't want our children to live…always on the run, from one city to the other, hiding not to be kidnapped by The Centre…" she told Jarod.

"I know…and I agree with you. But you must trust me. And trust Ethan. And Sydney and Broots. Together, we're going to make it. And then there will be only one word that will remind us of The Centre: the end."

Parker held him, "I hope so…"

* * *

**KENT GENERAL HOSPITAL - DOVER**

**The day after – 9.00 a.m.**

Parker entered Angelo's room to find an awake but tired Sydney. It was evident that he hadn't slept for many nights, and the strain of it all was starting to have repercussions on his physical and even mental health.

"How's going on?"

The man winced, "Parker!"

She tried to excuse herself by lovingly put a hand on his shoulder.

"Always the same…Doctors didn't say anything yet…"

Parker moved closer to her friend's bed and took his hand, squeezing it, "Please, Angelo, try to react." she whispered.

"Miss Parker…"

The woman turned around and Sydney noticed, maybe for the first time, a glimpse of a light in her eyes which seemed to be sincere happiness. He took her hand and brought her next to him, standing up.

"Congratulations…" he whispered, smiling. Her face enlightened with such a bright smile. Sydney had never seen her more beautiful, before.

"Can you think of me as a mother?" she asked him. His opinion was very important to her.

"Until a few weeks ago I would have never thought possible…that the two children I love as mine would find out they're in love with each other and want to build a family together…"

"Yeah, this seems so crazy…if Jarod had told me something like that months ago, I would have probably shot him!"

"I don't think so, Parker…you've never had the slight intention to shoot him, not even when we were chasing him the first days after his escape…"

She knew it was true, but she didn't want to lose her reputation of _Ice Queen_, at least in her colleagues' eyes.

"And anyway…you'll be an amazing mother…because Catherine was wonderful, with you, and you look like her in everything…" Sydney concluded, answering to her question.

She smiled and a few teardrops swelled to veil her eyes.

"So…boy or girl?" Sydney asked her, trying to defuse tension.

She smiled and started to listen to the voices. They weren't very clear about that argument, maybe they wanted it to be a surprise.

"G-girl…" a voice whispered at their back.

Parker and Sydney turned around in surprise: Angelo had his eyes almost open and his iris' penetrating light-blue was staring with interest at the woman that he loved as a sister and the man he loved as a father.

"Angelo!" Miss Parker whispered, throwing herself on the floor and taking his hands in hers. A tear took the place of her smile, on her face.

"Welcome back, old boy…" Sydney said.

"G-girl!" the empath said again. Parker burst into laugh of joy, which got mixed to tears.

"So Michael is going to have a little sister?" she asked her friend.

Angelo smiled, his teeth clenched. In that moment the doctors entered the room and threw out the guests, to run all the tests on the just-awakened patient. Miss Parker couldn't resist the joy and held Sydney in relief, letting herself go with a liberating cry.

Then Lyle appeared outside Angelo's room with Sam, the sweeper.

"Is he dead?" he asked, noticing her sister's tears.

Parker broke away from Sydney and became again serious, "No, he's not. He's alive and just woke up…but I'm not surprised that a man used to living in the wild, as you are, cannot conceive of tears of joy…"

Lyle snorted "Fine. As soon as he's stable we take him back to The Centre…Sam is here to check on his transfer, I don't want anyone to try to kidnap Angelo…"

"Anyone?!" Sydney asked.

Lyle smiled sarcastically, "Let's say I wouldn't be surprised if your lovely pretender jumped out at any moment to give that freak-that-is-Angelo his freedom…if we can talk of freedom, in Jarod's case…"

Parker had to bite her tongue not to answer that infamous brother of hers. But she couldn't discover reveal herself to him, "As much as I hate to admit it, Lyle is right", she gave him a hand, "Jarod would take the chance to take away from us the last pretender we still have…"

Sydney approved her choice of lying shamelessly to support Lyle's decisions, her cover couldn't seem more solid.

"Actually he's not the only one…as soon as our brother comes of age, we're starting with simulations…we just have to wait a few months still…" he concluded, sneering in satisfaction.

As soon as Lyle had gone, Parker came back looking at Sydney, confused and angry. In that moment she was flooded by a thousand of emotions, but one was predominant: her will to get vengeance once and for all on that squalid meat-eater that was her brother.

Broots appeared at that moment, with a wrinkled piece of paper in his hand.

"Is it true that Angelo is awake?" he asked.

Miss Parker nodded, and smiled again.

"Thank God…" Broots said, happy as never before for the news.

The woman took advantage of that to wrest the paper from his hands in a snap. Broots got almost frightened.

"Uhm…this comes from the Triumvirate…Ethan forwarded it to me a few minutes ago…"

"What is it about?" Sydney asked.

Parker read greedily, "Our chance…to close the game…"

* * *

Jarod was at his computer, as always. Since he'd found out that Angelo had woken up, the huge lump in his throat had relieved a bit. Now he was there, an eye to the cameras set on Michael, the other to the software he was using to try to penetrate The Centre archives once again. It wasn't as easy as before, even for a genius like him. He needed a help from the inside, the one that only Broots could give him.

His phone rang and he answered with carelessness, "What?"

"Your tone is getting more and more like my sister's, big brother."

"Ethan!" Jarod screamed, glad to hear him as never before, "Where are you, we need you!"

"I'm already on my way to Blue Cove, Jarod…but I needed to verify something, before!"

"What, Ethan?"

"I've sent a mail to Mr. Broots, a few minutes ago, it came from the Triumvirate…"

"What's it about?"

Ethan smiled while driving with one hand and holding the mobile with the other "They've planned a visit to The Centre…"

Jarod stood up, surprised by the news, "No way!"

"And yet, it is true! The highest members of the Triumvirate are already traveling to America…they'll be in Blue Cove in three days…"

"Are you saying that we could take them all together…that for the first time in many years they will all be inside the same building?!"

Ethan smiled to himself, his voices in turmoil, "Yes, brother…it's your biggest opportunity…"

"_Our_ biggest opportunity, Ethan…Be careful while coming here, don't leave any tracks and get rid of the car you rented…"

"Hey, I was not born yesterday!" he replied.

Jarod heard his brother hanging up. _And now he's so full of himself!, he thought_.

* * *

**THE CENTRE**

**3.12 p.m.**

Parker and Sydney had assisted Sam during Angelo's return trip. The pretender wasn't completely out of danger yet, but Lyle and Raines had insisted on making him coming _home_ at once.

His stretcher was carried out of the ambulance by a group of sweepers, the paramedics made to go away quickly and without too many explanations, as typical of The Centre. Angelo was then transported to the room in which he usually stayed, Parker was sure it would take him a while to come back to wandering through the air conditioning tunnels as he used to. But to know that he was feeling better and that he would almost certainly make it filled her with joy.

When Angelo was put in a bed, with two sweepers outside at his door and a nurse to assist him, Parker, Sydney and Broots welcomed him smiling.

"Miss Parker…happy…" Angelo said.

"I'm happy that you're back home safe and sound, Angelo…" she told him. But she knew very well he didn't mean that. Angelo read inside her as nobody else did, maybe not even Jarod. His faculties made him understand at once that the woman had never been happier than when she had found out she was pregnant.

She squeezed his hand once more, to make him understand how much she had been afraid of losing him, this time.

"Miss Parker…afraid…"

She sighed, then took a look at Sydney. Broots cleared his throat, "Ehm…I've got this chat-meeting with a guy who says he's actually seen Jarod inside an Italian restaurant not far from here…this could be a red herring, but...I'd better have a check on it!"

Parker realized that also Broots had become a good liar. That room might be secure, but you were never enough at The Centre. Their covers had to seem well-founded and untouchable to everyone's eyes, especially now that they had discovered the Triumvirate's intended visit.

As soon as Broots left the room, Miss Parker bent to talk with Angelo, "So…you believe that it's going to be a girl?" she whispered. Sydney had never seen her behaving like that. Maternity was incredibly good for her.

Angelo smiled, "Little sister…"

Parker sniggered too. Sydney was almost touched.

"But it's not over…" Angelo went on, "Jarod…Miss Parker…danger…"

"Angelo...why are we in danger? You've been repeating this for days, who wants to hurt us?"

Angelo sighed in exhaustion; Sydney dragged Miss Parker away from the bed "He needs some rest, now."

"Yeah…I'm going to visit Michael: I want to see how he is…"

But at that moment, Lyle entered the room with a package in his hands "Where are you going in such a hurry, sis?"

"I want to see my brother to be sure you didn't phagocytize him!"

"Very funny…but I think this one is for you…"

She took the package, surprised, "What is it?"

"Jarod's umpteenth clue, I guess…" Lyle explained, then pulled up his leathered-glove to make it fit better on his thumbless hand.

"This is certainly his millionth attempt to make me have another ulcer attack." she commented, sarcastically.

When she opened the box, Parker found a little statue representing a witch having vaguely her appearance with a broom in its hands; next to that there was another little statue, a black man lying down. It surely had to be Willie. There was also a message with the two sculptures, saying

**_ Sweepers huntress _**

**_ Look out for whom you're hunting_**

**_ or you might become the prey soon._**

**_ J_**

Parker wanted to bend over with laughter, but she kept a glacial look and a furious expression.

She tried to remember how she had felt every single time that Jarod had sent her messages like that to put her on the trail of something. There was a slight difference, now: that message was false, just as the statues purpose. But it wasn't in Lyle's eyes.

"How could he possibly have discover about Willie?" he shouted.

"Find out!" she replied, raging.

Sydney couldn't help but admire her skill in acting her role, "Jarod always knows what happened at The Centre…he's always a step ahead of us."

"Well, we can't afford this right now…"

"Why, is there any news I should be informed of?" Parker asked, facing her brother threateningly close. Lyle tried to move, without answering.

"Be careful, Lyle, because I'm keeping an eye on you…and I'm going to find out who arranged that trickery to our Dr. Freud, here. And believe me, he won't get away with it so easily…" she growled through clenched teeth.

Lyle left, leaving the two of them with a very sleepy Angelo. Sydney started to smile, "I must admit, Parker, you're a very talented would-be actor…"

"I've always said I should have taken to acting…"

Her _official_ phone rang in that moment, as always it couldn't be anyone else than Jarod.

"What?" she asked, a bit annoyed.

"Welcome back to good old times, Miss Parker!"

"I must admit this wasn't one of your more successful presents, lab rat!" she replied, whipping.

"Perhaps you're right, but it is the message that counts…"

"What should that mean?"

"That nobody's safe at The Centre anymore, not even its hunters…" he answered. He knew that phone was controlled, he had called on purpose, to corroborate the appearances. Later, he would redeem himself in his own way, with Parker.

"You're saying that we're prey too, now?" she asked, sarcastically.

"I'm just saying…" Jarod took a break filled with tension, "that as far as it seems I'm not the only one who must escaped from The Centre anymore."

"Keep my eyes open…"

"If I were you, I'd watch my back, Miss Parker…sweepers aren't anymore as…reliable as they used to be!"

So said, he hung up. Jarod didn't wait a second more to start laughing, but Parker had to control her emotions. If she didn't know how much in love she was with that damned pretender, and that the phone call was just a fake one, studied in detail, she would have spent the afternoon mulling over what Jarod had said. Fortunately, things had changed.

"Good old times, uh?" Sydney asked, smiling. Parker let an imperceptible grin escape, before going back to her office.

* * *

**I'm sure you weren't surprised at all.**

**Let me know! :)**

**Next chapter is going to be updated in a week or so, so forgive the delay. Have a nice week!**


	12. Chapter 12: An Ordinary Hero

**DISCLAIMER**

This is going to be a transitional chapter. The story is going on faster, from now on. And it's far from being over!

I'm a huge user of Tumblr. In case you didn't know, this is my account

beerok23. tumblr . com** - Isle of Carthis**

I usually post photoset from The Pretender. Gifs, Pics, and Quotes.  
I love this social network, I feel it was made for people like me!  
Anyway, a few months ago I read this post:

...

_**"Only a Michael T. Weiss fan knows just how annoying Foo Fighters can be."**_

...

I laughed so much, because it's true: when you look for "the pretender" on the web you might find 2 kind of posts.

- those talking about this amazing show  
- those talking about Foo Fighters, 'cause their most famous song is called "The Pretender".

Anyway, I laughed because I love them both. I love Foo Fighters so much, I guess as much as I love this show.

So I thought, "Why not using this coincidence in my fanfic?". And so, here it is.

This chapter is all about this strange idea I had. I know many of you won't like it, but, hey. It's all in our mind, isn't it?

See previous chapters to know the reasons why I'm not really the best writer around here! :)

Thank **YOU** **Nancy**, for your lovely words and reviews. I'm glad you're still enjoying this ff, I hope you like also the next chapter!

And I also want to say Thank You to my wonderful Beta Readers, **Antoinette** & **DanielleSmileyFace**!

* * *

**Chapter 12: An Ordinary Hero**

That evening Jarod was looking forward for Parker's return. He had spent the whole afternoon waiting. It wasn't easy for him to feel so…waiting. He was the one who usually dictated the game rules, the one who had the situation in hand, the one who decided what to do with others' lives. His mental games were Sydney, Parker and Broots's daily bread, his escapes drove them crazy.

Now, instead, everything was different. He had to wait for the others' moves, and the thing was literally making _him_ crazy.

So, when he finally heard the noise of the keys inside the house door, he ran towards the door, careless of the fact that Parker could have been in a sweeper's company, or Lyle's, or his father's, for all he knew!

Jarod stood behind the door and waited for that wonderful woman with her never-ending legs to enter and close the door without even looking around. The miniskirt she wore with nonchalance under a silk blue blouse was causing him shortness of breath.

Careless of the fact that he would scare her to death, he got next to her in silence, but eagerly, he held her waist and nestled her to him in an abrupt and quick gesture, starting to kiss her neck, smelling her scent and letting it intrigue him.

Initially she got scared and reacted in a wince, then she realized that could only be him, so she let herself go to those wonderful attentions that were already melting her down.

"A little birdie told me that you had a verbal confrontation with your _prey_, this afternoon…"

"Yeah, he was really annoying…" she played the game, appreciating more and more the touch of his lips on her neck, that was making her shudder. "Not only did he say I'm a _sweeper huntress_, but he even dared to hang up on my face!"

"Such a rude guy…I should teach him some good manners…nobody should tease such a charming huntress…"

Parker smiled, while Jarod stroked her belly, "The two statues you sent me were really awful…"

Jarod stopped kissing her at once, "Hey! It took me a whole afternoon to prepare them, you know?!"

Parker turned around, an intriguing look on her face, "And when did you actually have time to make them, while I was sleeping…or while I was in the shower?"

Jarod looked at her in amusement, "They came out from one of the mental games I wanted to send you just in case you…didn't show up in New Haven…"

She nodded, putting her hands on his, that didn't want to leave her belly.

"You must admit…it was much funnier, like that…" he whispered to her.

"I know something that could be even more…" she answered to his ear.

* * *

Parker was drinking an herbal tea that Jarod recommended for her nausea, and she had to admit it was working. After a couple of hours spent in bed together, they convinced each other to go back to the living room to spend a quiet night. Ethan would arrive soon, and they both wanted to wait up for him.

Parker sat on the couch, while Jarod kept the fire burning. That togetherness, without uttering a word, had something unique and irresistible. It might be their normal life, once they would achieve their purpose. They might be together without talking, just looking at each other, because they understood what they felt with just a look at their eyes. In that moment, Parker knew that Jarod was amused, and didn't understand how he could be happy in such a moment. Maybe the fact that Angelo was out of danger put him in a good mood.

"What are you thinking?" she asked him, blowing on her tea. She drank a sip of it, then she put the mug on the table.

"A couple of years ago, I pretended to be a roadie for a famed rock band, whose leader was the former drummer of Nirvana, which as you know I missed…"

"You didn't miss anything, Jarod!" she replied, knowing the history, "Their singer was just a chronic depressed guy plagued by mental problems that he created on his own…he couldn't accept the weight of his success…and the band finished when he shot himself, so sending in crisis millions of teenagers all over the world …"

Jarod grimaced, "That's not how Dave used to tell the story…" he revealed to her.

Parker opened her mouth wide. She wasn't that huge lover of grunge, nor rock, nor ear-splitting music. She wasn't the kind to adore songs by screaming singers. But she knew Nirvana, she had loved them very much, and she also knew the group born from their ashes, Foo Fighters.

"You want to me to believe that you went on tour with Dave Grohl?"

"He needed a very good roadie, and I was recommended to him as the best one…" he said, while a smile widened on both of their faces.

"Well, you befriended one of the best drummers ever…"

"Dave is crazy, but he was also a very receptive man…we became friends in that period, I particularly loved one of his songs that I thought fit like a glove on me…"

"Which one?"

Jarod thought mechanically of the songs lyrics.

...

_Truth or consequence, say it aloud_

_Use that evidence, race it around_

_There goes my hero_

_Watch him as he goes_

_There goes my hero_

_He's ordinary_

_..._

"A song talking about…heroes' ordinary nature…I've never felt like a hero, but that song…every time they sung it live, the crowd got crazy, and I couldn't understand why…"

"Boys love shouting and drinking beers at concerts – that might have been a huge shock to you!" she replied, teasing him.

"That was the first time I moved closer to contemporary music. What Dave writes makes sense…the words he uses…they always make me ponder…"

"So why were you smiling before?" she asked, remembering the reason they were having that conversation.

"Because Dave promised me that one day he's going to write a song about me!" he concluded, smiling in triumph.

"Oh, stop it!" she scoffed him.

"I told him the truth…I told him that I'm a pretender…that I can be anyone I want to be…"

"And you enchanted him to the point he was inspired to write a song? Knowing his style it won't certainly be a love ballad…"

"Don't think so…but he promised me that when the moment comes…I'll notice without the need for him to dedicate it to me…he knows I cannot risk being tracked!"

By now Parker was incredulous, "Why did you open up with a stranger? Just because he was a famous singer?"

Jarod got closer to Parker, to make his face as close as possible to hers, "Because he opened up with me, and I felt obliged to reciprocate…I spoke to him also about you, you know?"

"And what did you tell him?" she whispered, kissing him.

"That some songs he wrote made me think about an…_Ice Queen_ that I happened to see rarely because I couldn't stay with her…but that I continued to get behind her…until our hearts would eventually return to beat in unison…"

...

_I cannot be without you_

_matter of fact_

_I'm on your back _

_If you walk out on me_

_I'm walking after you_

_Another heart cracked_

_in two_

_I'm on your back_

_..._

"You're a poet too, now, Jarod?" she asked him, deeply stunned by those words.

"I'm a pretender full of surprises, aren't I?" he answered, kissing her.

They let themselves go to effusions, so Jarod sat down on the couch where she was sitting. In a few seconds they were lying on it and he started to kiss her passionately.

"Ehm-ehm!" a voice at their backs said.

Jarod broke away from Parker in less than no time, they both stood up to see who had interrupted them.

Ethan's amused and winking look caught them unprepared. Parker was sure she'd never seen Jarod so embarrassed and at the same time so amused in his whole life.

Ethan rubbed his hands after clapping them one against the other, "So, siblings…it seems to me that you didn't have any problems in passing the time during the wait!"

Parker covered her face with her hands, she wanted to disappear six feet under.

Jarod reached his brother and hugged him, glad to see him safe and sound.

"So, you two have a couple of news for me, don't you?"

"The voices are irritating sometimes…I hoped I could be the one to tell you!" Miss Parker complained.

"Sis…" Ethan smiled, running to hug her.

"So, it seems that you're having a niece soon…" she explained.

Ethan wondered how could they already know for sure, the voices hadn't been much clear about that.

"Angelo says it's a girl…" Parker continued, realizing that it was also the first time she was saying this to Jarod. The glimmer of immense joy she saw in his eyes to that news drove her crazy with happiness.

* * *

Jarod and Miss Parker were still waiting for Ethan to explain to them what he had discovered that afternoon. His separation had led to the recovery of the mail which said that the Triumvirate was traveling to The Centre, but it couldn't be just that.

"After Adama's death, The Centre made the Triumvirate believe that Jarod was the one who killed him…"

Jarod opened his eyes wide and stared at Miss Parker with almost a question mark over his head. One of the little things she had forgotten to tell him.

"Raines convinced them that you broke free on the jet and killed him and his guards, then parachuted away with the Scrolls…"

"I guess that finding Mr. Parker with the Prophecies in his hands made them change their minds…"

Ethan nodded, "It seems that the new Triumvirate chairman is Adama's brother, a man named Hasani. He turned out to be very vindictive towards you, until he found Mr. Parker and the Scrolls."

"And he's coming here?" he asked.

Ethan nodded again, "With a big group of guards and his main coworkers. If we take them, we take the Triumvirate…"

"Great!" Parker exclaimed.

"Not really…"

Jarod grimaced, "What else?"

Ethan sighed, he didn't know how to tell them, so he thought it was better to show them. He took another paper from his bag and gave it to his siblings.

"I didn't send Mr. Broots this one, I wanted you to be the first to see it."

...

_Seeing your total inability in finding Jarod, I've decided to come to The Centre in person to organize a new group of hunters. Your team haven't had any result for a while, and we consider that it might have been compromised. Doctor Sydney's unsuccessful murder is proof. Soon I'm charging someone with the duty to hunt Jarod: we cannot allow Miss Parker to help him destroying all we've firmly worked for in so many decades. Until further notice we all have one purpose: finding Jarod and taking him back to The Centre. _

_Once we catch him, we'll be eventually able to eliminate Miss Parker. Then, we'll wait for the baby to be ready to take Jarod's place in our plans of growth for the future: the fact that he's born from the union of our best pretender's genes with the ones of a woman gifted with the inner sense will just increase his already high mental skills._

_And finally, we've got another request: we know for certain, by now, that Catherine Parker is still alive and that all your efforts to silence her were to no avail. She and Margaret Charles are trying to help their son and daughter to discover the truth, and we can just hope that they couldn't already do so. Jarod is looking for them, and he'll do whatever he can to join with his mother, but we cannot allow him to, the consequences of a meeting between them would be disastrous. Oppose yourself to such a chance, as you've always done in all these years. _

_Don't disappoint me too, Mr. Raines._

_Hasani_

_..._

Miss Parker was shocked, maybe for the first time in her life she was really afraid. It wasn't just her life in danger, now, but also her baby's. And so was Michael's. Jarod crumpled up the paper and threw it in the fireplace, Ethan was looking at him a bit saddened.

"This is what Angelo was talking about…" Parker explained, nodding to herself.

"They want to kill you, sis…they know how much you mean to Jarod, and they want to eliminate you before you help him to destroy The Centre."

"And they want to keep us away from…our mothers!" he continued, scornful and full of anger.

"This mail was for Raines…you think he'd kill his own daughter, now that he revealed her the truth?" Ethan asked her.

"Maybe that was just a way to dupe me and distract me while he summoned a hangman for his fork…" she answered, almost amused.

"This isn't the right moment to joke, Parker." Jarod reproached her. "This is getting serious…I must take you away from here and hide you, then Ethan and I will think about a plan to help you leave secretly…Europe, or maybe Australia…"

"Or maybe Mars!" she shouted, standing up suddenly. "Jarod, I'm not leaving without a fight! This mail is just the appetizer, but there are so many other dishes before the dessert… they won't kill me until they find you, and this won't happen as long as I'm alive. And they don't know that we already know the truth about Michael. They don't know we're summoning up all the authorities to smoke out The Centre's dirty trades…and they don't know that our mothers already put us on the right way!"

Jarod stood up with her, "Parker! You can't be so stubborn not to realize that here we're talking about your life and also our son and daughter's…"

"You think I don't know that, do you? I'm the pregnant one, until proven otherwise!"

Jarod snorted, "I know that…and that's why I'd love you to go as far as you can from Blue Cove…God only knows when Raines is going to incite some sweepers against you, as he just did with Sydney!"

Jarod ran towards the window and started to look through it, in a very paranoid way. Ethan, anyway, couldn't blame him. The voices were talking crazily inside his head.

"I leave you alone, I need to…get some rest…" he said, realizing they needed to decide what to do without him. Parker excused herself with him mentally, hoping that he'd understand what he was feeling for Jarod, which was a huge rebellion sense. She was tired of his continuous attempts to protect her. She reached him at the window and gave him his gun, "Take this." she said.

He stared at the gun almost in disgust.

"You'll need this if you want to defend me against my would-be-killers, won't you?"

Of all the things Jarod would have imagined hearing her say, this wasn't actually on the list.

"You will never be able to protect me if they actually want to kill me…you've never been a man believing that happiness is a warm gun…"

"Things change!" he answered in anger and confusion. He was looking at the weapon with scorn, even if his words were telling a different story.

"We both know how this is going to end: I'm going back to The Centre tomorrow. And you won't be able to sleep tonight and you'll call Sydney in the middle of the night to confess him your fears and ask him to protect me, whatever it takes…"

Jarod sighed. Did she know him so well?

"He'll answer you that he'll do whatever he can to help us and keep me safe, as he's always done in the last thirty years…"

Jarod turned around to look her, "You forgot the part where I covertly entered The Centre to take Michael away and we all leave to reach the other side of the world…"

Miss Parker smiled, she knew he could have never done that. He was challenging her, but he had already lost before even starting.

"For a genius, sometimes you say very stupid things…" she scoffed him.

At that moment, his phone started to ring. Jarod ran to catch it, because not too many people could call him that hour. Parker took the opportunity to bring the gun back in her room and put it inside a drawer, with its safety.

"What?"

From the other side it was Andrea Zane's voice to answer "Jarod, I'm sorry if it's late, but I've got some important news for you…"

"It's never too late to do the right thing!" he answered, smiling.

"You were right about The Centre and its financiers…we've got a long list of children who were kidnapped during the sixties. Even if they came from different places, the similarities among their disappearances make us think that there was a precise plan behind their abductions."

"Did you find out the children's names?" Jarod asked, a bit worried.

Zane waited a few seconds, "Yeah…it was sent us by a very trusted source, somebody who's been giving such information for years to F.B.I. and N.S.A., even if we don't know who that is. Jarod…you were one of those children?" she asked him.

Jarod felt he had to be sincere with the woman who was helping him, "It's complicated…but now that's not important. Did you find anything about the financiers and the contacts The Centre has in Africa?"

Zane nodded even before answering, "I told you, I still need an access from inside…a door opened on their side and not visible from the inside…if they discovered you, it would be dangerous."

"You have no idea!" Jarod said in a hurry.

Zane didn't understand what Jarod had to do with that place, "But what's going on there, Jarod? Something tells me that you know much more than you want us to believe…and why something tells me that the Alex of that list is the same chameleon we've been chasing together last year?"

"Because it's the truth, Zane…please, try to go on with the investigation without my name coming out…I'm providing you that access from the inside, but you have to trust me…"

Zane sighed, "I made the big mistake of not believing you once…and then I had to change my mind…I want to trust you, Jarod. But they're putting me under pressure, they want to know where I got that information…"

Jarod had an idea. Maybe the time had come to involve his father.

"I'm sending my father. He knows the whole story and he can witness against The Centre…"

Miss Parker had listened to the last part of the conversation and was enthusiastic. Finally Jarod was going to reveal the truth about The Centre to the authorities, even if that meant to put Broots, Sydney and herself in danger.

"Your father? He has information about that place?"

"You can bet…and he's taking also a boy with him, a boy who was kidnapped by The Centre since he was born and that ran away just some time ago. He'll tell you what happened there…and in what way they exploited his abilities…"

"Jarod…" Zane didn't seem completely convinced, "Many people here wonder where the hell you have been, after the chameleon's death. Not everybody believes that you were on the right side…I don't know if I can cover you for long, sooner or later somebody is going to put two and two and realize that you were the one who made me open this investigation…"

"I need just some more time…three days, I'm not asking more." he concluded, looking at Miss Parker. Three days and the members of the Triumvirate would have arrived.

"Three days." Zane answered.

"Thanks, Andrea."

Once he hung up, Jarod closed the distance between himself and Miss Parker. "We have 48 hours to organize our counteroffensive…I need Broots to help me open that contact, Zane must be able to have access to The Centre archives…"

"Even if the two of you manage to create a communication channel without being discovered, which I doubt strongly, you couldn't read any files…" Parker replied.

"The Centre's division through different databases was created on the basis of one of my simulations! I know exactly how it works…and I know that is by passable!"

Parker shook her head, "Those files were split on many Data Annex throughout the States, Jarod…It won't be easy to access them: you should have at least about twenty different access codes to enter the various databases, and only with all the keys you could decode the documents, because their encryption is switched in about thirty different locations!"

"39 different locations, for the accuracy." Jarod specified, reaching his laptop. "I've localized just 38 of them. I've never known the actual location of the last Data Annex, because it isn't stored anywhere, that is top secret and inaccessible information…"

"A dead end…" Parker commented, looking at the map appearing on Jarod's computer. She had to admit he had been very good to discover where The Centre databases were.

"We can't do anything without the last one…"

In that very moment Ethan appeared in the room, with a comfortable pajamas made with a t-shirt and a pair of slight trousers.

"Did you stop fighting, siblings?" he asked, reaching them.

When Ethan started to look at the Data Annex map, he recognized it at once, "I know that!"

Jarod and Parker looked at each other, then stared at Ethan. "Meaning?"

"Mr. Raines…he made me develop this connections-net years ago…He said that was a project to speed up The Centre data transmission, but he never was more specific than that. I thought that was something to delocalize their basis throughout the country…"

"Ethan…these 38 stations have the key to gain access to all the secrets of The Centre, all its computer archives…"

"But…there's something wrong…they weren't 38, I'd planned for 39 of them!" he replied.

Jarod couldn't wait anymore, "Do you remember were you put the last one?"

Parker was hanging on his words. Ethan stretched out his hand and indicated a point on the map, "The thirty-ninth had to be in a very neuralgic point, Jarod…I'm surprised you didn't realize that on your own…"

Jarod started to smile, "It's at The Centre!"

"Right where nobody would expect it to be!" Ethan commented, patting his shoulder.

Jarod smiled, happy as a baby. Parker giggled, "You're a genius, little brother!"

"More than Jarod?"

Parker hushed for a second, while Jarod was looking at her severely, "Well…if we really manage to gain access to the archive I'll have to concede Ethan the labrat-of-the-year prize, instead of you, Boy Genius!"

Jarod smiled, "I'd gladly concede it to him!"

* * *

**Reviews would be very appreciated! :)**

§

Here are the lyrics to the songs mentioned in this chapter.

§

**"My Hero"**

Too alarming now to talk about

Take your pictures down and shake it out

Truth or consequence, say it aloud

Use that evidence, race it around

There goes my hero

Watch him as he goes

There goes my hero

He's ordinary

Don't the best of them bleed it out

While the rest of them peter out

Truth or consequence, say it aloud

Use that evidence, race it around

There goes my hero

Watch him as he goes

There goes my hero

He's ordinary

Kudos, my hero

Leaving all the best

You know my hero

The one that's on

There goes my hero

Watch him as he goes

There goes my hero

He's ordinary

There goes my hero

Watch him as he goes

There goes my hero

He's ordinary

§

**"Walking After You"**

Tonight I'm tangled in my blanket of clouds

dreaming aloud

things just won't do without you

matter of fact

I'm on your back

if you walk out on me

I'm walking after you

if you'd accept surrender

I'll give up some more

weren't you adored

I cannot be without you

matter of fact

I'm on your back

if you walk out on me

I'm walking after you

another heart cracked

in two

I'm on your back

**[Lyrics and Music by Foo Fighters]**


	13. Chapter 13: Operation Reset

**DISCLAIMER**

As I told you before, things are going to get faster from now on.

Chapter 13 has some action, finally! Our boys are making a step forward to destroy The Centre.

It's written a bit in an Alias style, because that's my favorite tv show.

Oh, and I love Agent Zane. I've always thought she has something irresistible. She seems nice and tough at the same time :)

If you don't like the code names I've chosen, well...

Next time write your story on your own!

English is probably particularly awful in this one, forgive me, as usual.

Thank **LadyOliviaRoxton**, for your review. I'm glad you're still enjoying this ff, I hope you like also the next chapter!

And as usual thank to my wonderful Beta Readers, **Antoinette** & **DanielleSmileyFace**!

* * *

**Chapter 13: Operation Reset**

**THE CENTRE**

**Two days later – 9.47 a.m.**

It had taken Jarod, Miss Parker, Sydney, Broots and Ethan a whole day to project their plan to get inside The Centre archives. Seeing the importance of the mission, all of them had to be at the right place at the right time, with no exception.

Seeing Broots and Jarod's computer skills, they would be the ones to penetrate The Centre defenses, while Ethan would process data during the download to decipher them in real time. Jarod feared that there were preventative measures arranged by The Centre, which could lead to data cancellation in case of archives tampering. He couldn't risk losing such a good chance.

Agent Zane had been warned and she was waiting for their transmission, helped by a crowd of the more skilled N.S.A. computer-technicians: should everything go well, she would have enough evidence to organize a roundup to The Centre even the day after, and she would take also F.B.I. and a couple of C.I.A. agents, whom Jarod had worked with over the years.

The plan was easy: Broots and Parker would communicate to Lyle that Jarod had been seen somewhere, making him leave a couple of hours before the intrusion. Unfortunately, to give truth to the whole thing, Miss Parker would leave with her brother. Her staying at The Centre would arouse useless suspicion.

Broots, on the contrary, wasn't necessary, nor Sydney, who had the excuse for staying back because he wanted to watch over Angelo during his recovery therapy. Actually, Sydney would control Raines's movements.

Angelo was feeling better and better and he was eventually out of danger. He stopped saying that Miss Parker and Jarod were in danger, now he seemed much more interested in the baby the woman was carrying. The day before he had given her a drawing portraying her with a very huge tummy. To a very careful eye, Miss Parker's portrait would remind of her mother while she was pregnant for Ethan.

She was a bit worried for Angelo, because she was afraid he could unintentionally reveal something to Lyle or Raines. But he removed all doubt from her when he whispered, "Your baby is a secret…Miss Parker is finally happy…and so is Angelo!"

Maybe for the first time she had given her childhood friend a huge and sincere smile, realizing that she loved him very much.

* * *

That morning Parker had broken into Lyle's office with Broots, ready to play her part.

"So, it seems that St. Nicholas came sooner, or later depending on the point of view…"

"What do you want, sis?" he asked her, a bit annoyed. He was writing Hasani, and Miss Parker was the very last person he wanted around while communicating with the Triumvirate.

"Our lovely fugitive made a false step, Lyle…we're going to the jet, Jarod is in New York, we're going to catch him!"

Lyle seemed torn between the hunt and the mail he was writing. He knew how important it was to capture Jarod, but so was what he was doing: those were the details for Hasani's arrival at The Centre, and they had to be perfect.

"Sis…why don't you go on your own?"

Parker felt a shiver down her spine. A refusal from Lyle was not expected, she had to convince him to leave.

"Well, if you want me to take the whole credit for Jarod's capture, you just have to ask, Lyle…I thought you were shrewder!" so said she went towards the door, followed by a very nervous Broots.

Miss Parker was in a cold sweat, but she had to be resolute.

"Parker!" Lyle called out, after concluding the long fight with himself, "Can't you give me an hour?"

"As you know, our lovely lab rat sniff our stink even before we set foot out of here, so this seems like a question that doesn't deserve an answer…Well, come to think about it, the fact that your stink is anchored to that chair would make us less recognizable…"

Parker hit the mark: Lyle stood up, in a visible fury, and reached her, "Let's go!"

As soon as he went out, Parker sent Broots a knowing glance and he ran away. Parker let Lyle go a few meters in front of her, then she took Jarod's safe cell phone.

"It seems that we will be chasing you, the both of us, together, as good little siblings…" she whispered, while walking through The Centre corridors.

"Fine. Be careful when you get there: I've prepared a very special surprise for Lyle in the lair you're going to visit…Let just say that you should let Lyle be the first one to enter…"

"Who did you pretend to be, this time?"

"A sewer worker…" he answered from the other side, smiling.

"You said you hoped you'd never have to do it!" she said laughing, remembering what he told her by phone after the day they had spent locked as hostages in the bank.

"And in fact I didn't, I just…pretend I did!"

Parker sighed, "Be careful!"

"You too."

Jarod hung up.

Parker looked at her brother, moving in the distance, then she sighed. She didn't need to be careful because she would be far from there, while those, at The Centre, would risk their lives. She'd never felt less useful in her whole life, even if her inner sense was telling that she was doing the right thing.

* * *

So, now Broots was counting the minutes that still separated him from 10.00, the time when "Operation Reset" would start, as Jarod and Ethan had called it.

There were three minutes to go and he had to remain calm. He was at his laptop, while Sydney was in Angelo's room, pretending to assist him during his healing, but indeed ready to intervene with his computer. Jarod and Ethan were ready to move inside The Centre's air ducts, and they were waiting for Broots's sign to start entering the structure. They would enter as Jarod always had: in the very same way he had escaped the first time.

"_Porter_, do you copy?" Jarod asked, testing the earphone he had borrowed from the Agency.

"Loud and clear, _Docker_."

Jarod looked at Ethan with satisfaction. They had chosen code names even to avoid anyone discovering that he and his brother were getting into The Centre, in case should they ever find out.

"_Guardian_, do you copy?" Jarod continued.

"Here we go, _Docker_. We're ready to move should it be necessary." Sydney commented, looking at Angelo who had recently started to walk again and seemed rather tense.

"_Zed_, do you copy too?"

Agent Zane was at the other side of that transmission, listening to the whole conversation in her office, where her technicians were ready to download the data that Jarod and Broots would send at any moment.

"Everything's packed and ready here at base camp. Good luck." she commented.

_We're going to need it_, Jarod thought.

"It'll be fine." Ethan cheered him up.

"Do the voices think so?" he asked.

"Nope, this time it's just my hope …" his brother replied.

Ten o'clock. Jarod gave Ethan a look and then spoke, "_Porter_, we're moving!"

§

Broots started to upload in sequence the looped images of all The Centre surveillance videos. Jarod and Ethan had to reach Sublevel 23, where Broots had verified the presence of Server 39 at The Centre.

…

"_I've never even noticed, but a huge data amount converges in one computer only, which is located in SL-23. It seems that it is an abandoned area, where nobody ever goes, but I'm pretty sure that it defends the access to The Centre's main net…" Broots explained Miss Parker and Sydney._

"_What makes you so sure?" the woman asked._

"_Well, every computer net must have a main hub, and in that room the levels of the used power are always at the highest, which makes me think that…"_

"_There's always an active data storage," Parker continued._

"_Well, they couldn't keep alive such a huge net without a large amount of power…and that's The Centre place which uses the largest amount of electric energy!"_

"_Great job, Broots!" Sydney commented. _

…

Jarod and Ethan were crawling inside the ducts. They had been able to work out the shortest way to reach SL-23 even with Angelo's help, he knew those tunnels better than anybody else.

"You haven't told me yet…what you would like to name my niece!" Ethan whispered, while the two pretenders were crawling across a rather narrow duct.

"Well," Jarod answered, a bit strained " I've always loved Cassandra's myth, the Greek priestess with the ability to foresee the future."

"Jarod…you know what happened to Cassandra, don't you?" Ethan asked him, with curiosity for his choice.

"Of course, but you asked me what name I liked and I told you the first one that came to my mind!"

"If you like mythology why don't you look at the Muses? I've always loved Clio…"

Jarod thought to himself, without stopping to crawl. If he ever got out of that situation, he would have to ask Parker if she liked the idea of naming their daughter after the Muse of History, whose symbol was exactly some Scrolls.

"Where are we?" Ethan asked, always whispering.

"Here we need to turn right…" Jarod commented, looking at the GPS map that he had at his wrist.

§

Agent Zane was tense and she paced back and forth. She was afraid that Jarod and his men, whom she didn't know anything about, would be discovered. But it was too far important for them to gain that information, Jarod was ready to give his life to let her have them. She wouldn't waste a second to use them with the aim of destroying that dismal place that has to be The Centre.

"Any news?" she asked her men.

"There's no contact yet, agent Zane. They'll be in touch…" one of them commented.

* * *

Parker was on the plane with Lyle and she couldn't avoid looking at her mother's watch. The thought that Jarod had given it back to her made her sweat. In that very moment, maybe, he was signing his eternal-imprisonment-to-The-Centre warrant.

"Are you okay, sis?" Lyle asked her, seeing her nervous and quiet.

"I just hope…this time he won't escape..." she commented, "I hate him when I see him running from under my nose as he always does…it makes me feel like a fool…"

Amused by his sister's confession, Lyle answered, "It'll be very delightful to pay him back with the same currency when we'll eventually bring him back to The Centre…"

Miss Parker could only imagine what tortures Lyle had in his mind for Jarod, should he ever come back inside a Centre's cell. She hoped with all her heart she would never find out.

* * *

Jarod stopped in front of a grate which was above a corridor, "Here we are! Porter, we're in position!" he said at the earphone.

"Okay, _Docker_. Is _Oracle_ with you?"

"Yes, I am!" Ethan answered.

"Fine. Cameras are in loop and I will be able to keep them like that for fifteen minutes, we don't have much time…" Broots replied.

"_Guardian_, are there any movements at the upper floors?" Jarod asked.

Sydney had moved towards the office area, where he was controlling Raines's position. At that moment Raines was in his office, unaware and in complete ignorance of what was happening a few miles beneath his feet.

"Your way is safe for the time being, _Docker_."

Jarod looked at Ethan, nodding in agreement, "Are there any sweepers beneath us, _Porter_?"

Broots checked the real cameras of the sublevel. There was no trace of sweepers, they had accurately chosen the time when the guards changed. Precisely for the hidden location of the main server, nobody ever thought about drawing attention on it by putting men to guard the room where the computer was located. Its own safety was due to the total lack of men: the computer could protect itself, thanks to all its defense mechanisms, unconsciously created by Jarod and Ethan while pretending for The Centre.

Jarod took an electric screwdriver to unscrew the grate fasteners, then came out of the duct, making way for his brother. They both had a backpack with computer equipment. Jarod put the grate back at its place, without screwing the fasteners. The two pretenders penetrated across the SL-24 corridor, which was dark and aseptic, much like all the other Centre hidden sublevels.

"This isn't definitely the Sunday picnic," Jarod stated.

"Neither the cocktail party for a book presentation…" Ethan replied, while they walked towards the control room. Jarod was following Broots's direction, "The power backlog is right at the end of this corridor, in a room guarded with an Alpha Code opening, the highest of all."

"And how do we get inside without the code?" Jarod asked, sure that Broots had thought about that too. The two of them had reached the metal door, that would open only if they typed the access password.

"The code changes every thirty seconds." Broots explained, "Plug the USB key I have you in, I'm going to receive the signal and I'll try to bypass it from here."

"And what if we don't find it in thirty seconds?" Ethan asked.

"Well…then you have to run out of there as fast as you can."

Jarod took the key provided by Broots from his backpack and plugged it to the device to insert the code. Immediately, a list of chars columns changing very fast appeared on it. The code would be ready as soon as Broots deciphered it.

"Twenty seconds, _Porter_!" Jarod stated, noticing that the code was appearing too slowly.

"No pressure, Ja…_Docker_!"

Jarod and Ethan saw the code forming on the device and when it was complete, Jarod typed it on the keyboard as fast as he could. The door opened with a dull noise and the two of them slipped through it without any problems. They both breathed a sigh of relief. Now, the main control room was in front of them, one more step was left and then all the information contained inside The Centre database would be in their possession.

Jarod and Ethan prepared their respective laptops and Jarod connected with the main hub. More or less, it didn't seem much more different than any other computer, but its importance was evident, in that moment. Jarod started to work on the terminal, until he had to decode the access passwords.

"Here we go, _Porter_…It's time to do some magic! _Guardian_, now it's up to you!"

§

When he was named, Sydney ran towards Raines's office and knocked, then entered.

"What the hell do you want?" he asked.

"I thought you'd be glad to know that Parker and Lyle left to go and search out Jarod in New York." Sydney said.

"Why did you stay?" Raines inquired of him, a bit suspicious.

"Angelo worries me…I'd want you to help me understand what's going on with him…since he got hurt, he doesn't seem the same anymore…"

Sydney knew it wouldn't be easy to make him take the bait. But Raines always had a soft spot for Angelo: he had been his main project, his first failure that later had eventually become an experiment useful for The Centre goals.

"What do you mean?" Raines asked, standing up.

"It seems to me that he isn't…as receptive as before…" Sydney lied, while he was reaching the desk. Between his hands, he had a sampler that he needed to position next to Raines's computer, but without being seen. He leaned his arms on the desk, while Raines moved next to him. He could see the huge scorn he felt for him, in that moment Sydney realized that he had been the one to order his murder.

"Did you try to take him to the room where we keep all Jarod's stuff?" he asked him.

Sydney turned around and let the sampler slip next to the computer.

§

"That's it! _Oracl_e, _Docker_, in a minute we're going to have access to the computer and we'll be able to download the passwords!" Broots said, starting to download the information from Raines's computer.

Jarod couldn't wait. He had been waiting for that moment for years, and that he was actually living it he couldn't believe it.

§

"What are you going to do with Angelo?" Raines asked, while Sydney covered the sampler on the desk with his own body.

"I don't know…this aggression shook him very much. It is as if he didn't want anything to do with anybody anymore…I don't think he's going to be much useful to The Centre anymore."

"Are you suggesting we should eliminate him?" Raines asked, sadistic.

Sydney stared at him, furious, "I was thinking about a relocation…maybe a bit of time out of here would do him good, in a psychiatric clinic…he'd like it…"

Raines chuckled, "In all the years we've been working together I've never heard you say anything more ridiculous, Sydney…Now leave, I've got some work to do!"

"_Guardian_, keep him busy twenty seconds more, I'm not over yet!" Broots shouted in the earphone.

Sydney leaned and took Raines by the scruff. "By the way…" he said through clenched teeth, "I know everything about the attempt to kill me…I know you were the one who ordered Willie to murder me…and I know that the fact you didn't manage to kill me drives you crazy…"

Raines was looking at him in fathomless anger and contempt.

"But I will not allow you to harm anybody here anymore, neither Angelo, nor Miss Parker!"

Jarod was very proud of what Sydney just said, but he realized immediately that he bit off more than he could chew: Raines wasn't aware of the fact they knew of the risk Miss Parker was running since the Triumvirate had decided to eliminate her.

"Why should I hurt…my daughter?" Raines asked him.

"And when have you not?" replied Sydney, at the height of patience.

"_Guardian_, we have the package! Leave now!" Broots said in the earphone.

Sydney let go Raines's jacket and put his hands behind his back, then he silently recovered the sampler while his rival came back to the desk that had once been occupied by Mr. Parker. He didn't seem to have noticed anything.

"It's not over, Raines…" Sydney commented.

"You bet, Sydney…" the other whispered, grinding his teeth into a smirk which seemed a satisfied smile.

§

Jarod received the passwords from Broots and started to insert them mechanically and fast, without daring to breathe, such was the excitement. When he was over, he had to wait a few seconds: if everything went as he hoped, the server would start to show the 38 locations names and the files would all be downloaded.

"The longest ten seconds of my life…" Jarod whispered.

Broots was holding his breath, and so was Ethan.

The server gave a positive message and so began the list of the locations, which were downloading all data through the door created by Jarod for the occasion.

"Bingo!" he shouted, starting to smile.

"_Porter_, open communication with _Zed_!" Ethan said.

§

"Agent Zane, here we go! Jarod opened a communication door and is going to transfer all the data!"

"Be ready to download and close everything next!" Zane shouted in answer.

§

"_Oracle_, are you decoding?" Jarod asked.

"The software is working in real time, Jarod, we need other…four minutes!" Ethan explained.

"_Oracle_, we don't have four minutes. The cameras loop will be over in two, after which you'll be seen by the sweepers!" Broots shouted. In the meantime he was controlling the movements of the sweepers, everything seemed normal.

"Find a way to keep them busy, _Porter_, your job is over up there!" Jarod screamed, yet he couldn't stop typing codes at his keyboard.

"How?" Broots asked.

"Think of something!" he replied, angry.

§

Ethan was decoding all the files. As he processed them, he sent them through the communication door they had opened with the N.S.A. a few minutes before.

"We're at the twentieth location," Jarod explained.

Ethan nodded, his eyes running over the command lines he was setting. In that moment, Jarod realized his fears had been well-founded: a few precautions set by The Centre came into operation and they would delete the files in a matter of a few minutes.

"No…No, no, no!" Jarod screamed.

"What's going on?"

"The database had identified the external access, it started a virus that's going to delete all data…"

"How much time do we have?" Ethan asked, worried.

§

Broots entered in the control room, where a gorilla was checking all the screens in front of himself.

In one of them, Broots recognized the SL-23 room where Jarod and Ethan were in that very moment. In a few seconds, they would appear on the video.

"Ehm…I need help!" Broots shouted, capturing the man's attention.

"What's going on?" he asked, turning around.

§

"Damn it, we're never gonna make it!" Jarod shouted.

"How many left?" Ethan asked.

"Four! And without those four we'll never have the total data decryption! We're going to miss some parts and we won't be able to rebuild anything! _Zed_, are you downloading?" Jarod asked, opening communication.

"Yes, we are, the situation is under control here at base camp!" she said.

"Well, here it isn't, we have a virus ready to come into operation and if we don't stop it, all of this will be a useless waste of time!" Jarod explained.

"We might insert a slowdown from our side…if we send some data through the communication door, maybe the system will see it as secondary access and it'll take it more time to stop system the data loss!" one of Zane's technicians said.

"Do it!" she shouted, "Jarod, we're trying to help you from our side…"

"Great…" he commented, not very convinced.

"You're not the only genius in the ocean, you know brother?" Ethan said in amusement.

"I certainly hope not?!" Jarod replied.

§

"I've got a problem with my terminal, it appears that I'm running out of memory and I cannot work…" Broots told the sweeper.

"Call for a technician!" he answered, he didn't look like an informatics engineer, just a careful observer of the control screens.

Broots saw Jarod and Ethan appearing on the video in that moment and he winced, because the man was turning around again. Feeling cornered, Broots took the man by his jacket and turned him towards himself.

"But you must help me! It seems that I'm the only one who can do things, here, but you don't know how difficult it is to have the reputation of the one who must solve all the problems!" he shouted, pretending that he was complaining.

§

"We're at the last computer, _Zed_! _Oracle_, how much time for the decryption?"

"Thirty seconds, _Docker_!"

"Unbelievable, it seems that your intervention actually slowed down the virus action! Maybe we can make it!"

"Even here at the N.S.A. we have some resources, _Docker_!" Zane commented.

Jarod smiled, while the server showed a message of data download completion. He unplugged his laptop quickly, while Ethan still needed a few seconds.

§

"Listen, nerd-genius, I don't have time to lose!" the sweeper replied, standing up and showing Broots all his height.

Broots let his eye fall on the video: Jarod and Ethan were still there.

"But what does it cost, I'm just asking for ten minutes to help me restore my terminal!" Broots explained, more and more afraid of the situation.

§

"We're over! The files are deciphered, _Zed_ did you receive the package?" Ethan asked.

The N.S.A. technician raised his thumb towards Agent Zane, then she smiled, "We got it, _Oracle_. You may leave now!"

Ethan unplugged the laptop and all the cables, then he threw them inside the backpack. He and Jarod ran outof the room and the door snapped behind them. The way was still free.

§

"Get out of here, if you don't want me to kick you out!" the sweeper shouted, starting to cracking his fingers.

Broots noticed that Ethan and Jarod had just exited the room, so that video was under control again. The next one showed them while they were running towards the duct.

"Buddy…ehm…I don't want to fight…" Broots commented, retreating while the sweeper was pushing him towards the door using just his weight to terrorize him.

Meanwhile, Broots saw Jarod hoisting Ethan inside the duct, and a few seconds later he had disappeared too and the grate was back at its place.

"All right, man…I'm leaving…I'm finding somebody else to help me…" Broots commented.

The man looked at him menacingly while he exited, then he came back to his place. Everything seemed normal on the videos.

§

"_Porter_, we're going out, we delivered the package. Very good job!"

"Speak for yourself, I almost had an heart attack…you should see how big the surveillance technician was…" Broots explained to Jarod.

"Did you make it?" Sydney's voice asked, he had been silent all that time, even if he had been listening to everything happening in SL-23.

"It's not over yet, but the virus didn't come into operation, all the data were downloaded. Porter, delete the safe door we created for the N.S.A. at once."

"Already done!" Broots commented, he was back at his desk. It was unbelievable, they really made it. And nobody seemed to have noticed.

"It was easy," Ethan commented.

"Maybe too easy." Jarod pointed out, while they were exiting the tunnel from which they entered.

"I think the imminent visit of the Triumvirate lowered Raines's level of caution…but you can be sure, they're going to discover the intrusion." Broots explained.

"Not if a very good IT technician gets rid of all the traces we left…Starting from the surveillance video that shows us during the escape…" Jarod said.

In that moment the communication ended and Broots took off the earphone.

_Always the worst jobs for me_, he thought.

* * *

**Reviews, Reviews, Reviews! :)**


	14. Chapter 14: Promises and Choices

**DISCLAIMER**

Chapter 14, wow I think we're going somewhere here.

This part is about decisions, planning, and promises. There's fear for the future, but also hope.

My English is going to be full of typos and misprints. Maybe also wrong verbs and spelling. But, please, forgive me, as usual. Waiting for my lovely Beta Readers to edit the story

Thank you **harmswife** and **Nancy** for your reviews!

* * *

**Chapter 14: Promises and Choices**

**THE CENTRE**  
**5.49 p.m.**

Miss Parker was tired and burdened by the trip to New York. Not only she had spent many hours in her detestable brother's company, but also she had found herself not allowed to laugh when she had seen the little surprise Jarod had prepared for Lyle.

Sydney welcomed the woman with Broots and Angelo, they all seemed glad to see her and very satisfied.  
"Parker! You're finally back, where's Lyle?" Sydney asked her, reaching her and stroking her arm in a very paternal way.

She smiled at him, betraying her joy of being back with the people she truly cared about.

"I guess he's having a series of hot showers, at the moment…" she explained, putting her gun inside her desk drawer.

"Showers?" Broots asked, while looking at Angelo who was playing with the puppets Jarod had sent.

"Our Boy Wonder didn't tell you what he had left in New York?"

In that moment Parker's "official" phone rang and she hurried to answer, then she sat at her desk. She knew she had to keep her Ice Queen façade, when she spoke at that device.

"What!" she pretended to be annoyed and put in speakerphone so that Syd and Broots could also hear.

"I've been told that Lyle found himself immersed up to his neck in the thing looking most like him, Miss Parker…"

Sydney looked at her questioningly, she was smiling, and her voice was betraying her amused expression "I imagine I should thank my lucky star if that ambulant-cannibal-brother-of-mine entered your lair before I did, Jarod…Where did all that rubbish come from?"

Broots couldn't help but figuring the scene of Lyle immersed under a rubbish mountain.

"You couldn't imagine how many things you might find down in the sewers, Miss Parker…even the most hidden secrets…"  
Parker had a message they had found in Jarod's lair and which was addressed to her. She showed it Sydney and Broots, who looked at it with curiosity.

_Be careful about the waste you throw away._

Under the line there was the mail from the Triumvirate which had given Raines the confirmation of Sydney's death sentence order. The doctor wasn't that amazed, he had realized on his own that his forever-rival might have been the one who had asked for the permission to make him killed. To Lyle and Raines, that might have seemed like if Jarod had given his mentor and the woman the umpteenth trail to follow, but they couldn't imagine that they both already knew everything and have been collaborating with Jarod for days.

"Where are you going with this, Jarod? Do you think that you're going to put us against each other? I don't need your little mental games to doubt Raines…"

Jarod, from the other side of the device, realized that was an exceptional woman. She was playing her part in a sublime way, she didn't seem the same woman that would come back home that night and would find him and Ethan waiting for her.

"No, Miss Parker, I know that our bald friend is not among your fave. But we all need someone we can trust…it's just that you keep putting your trust in the wrong people" he commented.

"And I assume we're supposed to trust you, instead?!" she replied, pretending to be mean.

Sydney and Broots couldn't help but smile. If that conversation was really under control, nobody would doubt Miss Parker. Angelo, however, had a satisfied grin on his face: he felt how much that woman was dosing the words, even if, indeed, she felt nothing but unconditional love, for Jarod.

"I don't think you'll ever be able to do that…but maybe you should start trust someone else…"

"Who?" she asked, in a whisper.

"Yourself…"

So said, he hung up. Miss Parker smirked.

"Astonishing" Broots commented.

Parker smiled and regained control on herself. That night, probably, she wouldn't easily let go that conversation. She would understand better. In bedroom, obviously.

"What about "Reset"?" Parker asked.

"Our _porters_' tracks were all erased by Broots. There aren't any signs of their transit. The whole operation worked well and the package was delivered…" Sydney explained. Parker nodded, in satisfaction.

"But…if we're safe…and if we've checked there aren't any bugs, why do we keep speaking in code?" Broots asked, he couldn't understand all those security measures.

"At The Centre, even walls have ears…"

* * *

One hour later, Lyle was back at The Centre and entered Parker's office with rage. Behind him, Raines was following.

"It seems that our beloved Jarod has disappeared from that lair at least a month ago…our trail was a bit old, wasn't it?"  
Parker smiled in an almost malefic way "Maybe he wanted to let the rubbish decant so that you could find them even more putrid once we got there, Lyle!"

He completely ignored her comment. That wasn't the reason he was there.

"There's something very important we must tell you. We didn't want to say it before, we were afraid that the thing might leak out and Jarod would find out…" Lyle said, giving a bad look at Sydney.

"What is it about…we're having a party for your first six months without homicides?" she asked, always smiling.

"The Triumvirate is coming here tomorrow."

Parker shut up. So they were finally telling her the "truth". They all had to be very good at dissimulating. They already knew everything, but they had to pretend to be unaware. Maybe pretend to be even a bit tense.

"Why?" Sydney asked "In many years they've never bothered to come here, of not when Matumbo appeared to take Jarod's clone away with him…"

"Things change…" Raines interrupted him "And Hasani, Adama's brother, wants to come here to check our work…"

"Why should this interest us?" Parker asked.

"Because Hasani is mostly interested in the way you're conducing Jarod's hunting. In Africa, they're very upset by all these last six years and a half failures, they're looking for someone to blame…"

Parker grinded and got next to her brother "It's not my fault if that lab rat does nothing but slip away as a serpent changing the suit…"

Sydney agreed with Parker's metaphor "What do they really want?"

"Jarod is never coming back at The Centre, and the Africans are starting to realize. Not to mention that his pretender's skills might be useless should he come back here against his will and should we force him…to collaborate."

Parker felt bad just thinking of it and had to keep a nausea attack. The idea of Jarod trapped in a cell of The Centre, drugged and massacred by her brother to make him end some simulations, made her feel awful.

"So we have a new project to propose" Raines continued "Your little brother is the key for our future, your father always knew…he's going to be trained to follow Jarod's steps…"

Sydney felt the woman's motion of anger, 'cause she was hearing them talking about her son as an object. Angelo, who was still sitting on the floor, reached Miss Parker. Feeling his presence, the woman calmed down a bit. Even her voices were inviting her to keep calm.

"Your projects for the baby foreseen his exploitation for all his life, as you did with Jarod, Kyle, Angelo, Alex…they're all perfect and successful experiments, aren't they? What does the Triumvirate think about it?"

Raines looked at her furiously "The baby will be a very good pretender, he has it in his blood!"

"My father and Brigitte's son? And how could it be? If he took it from his mother, he wont even know the number two multiplication table!" Miss Parker replied, wanting to understand how far would Raines go. She was sure they would never tell _her_ the truth.

"Your irony is not appreciated by the Triumvirate…try to be careful what you say, tomorrow…" Lyle answered, changing the matter subject. Then the two of them headed for the exit.

"What do they want to do with the baby?" Sydney asked, already knowing the answer but not wanting to hear it.

"Hasani's plans are clear: they don't have Alex to use as a puppet anymore, and Jarod is untraceable. As soon as Baby

Parker is ready, he's going to be transferred to Africa!" Lyle said.

"Let's hope he doesn't have a soft skin, or he won't be able to be under the sun for long…" Parker replied.  
Lyle and Raines exited, while the woman let herself go to some desperate sighs. When she doubled over herself and collapsed to the floor, Sydney sustained her.

"Miss Parker!"

Broots helped his friend to let the woman sit on the couch, Angelo reached her and took her hand tenderly.

"Miss Parker…Jarod…danger…" he said for the umpteenth time, with a more resigned voice, almost subdued. She was looking at him with tears in her eyes.

"Angelo…save…Michael…"

Parker stared at him, guessing what they had to do. Angelo was right, and the voices were confirming it.

_Angelo will help you._

"What are we going to do?" Broots asked her.

"We need to save my son, whatever it cost…" she answered, in sighs "And Angelo will help me."

The empath looked at her, smiling.

* * *

**MISS PARKER'S HOUSE**  
**8.33 p.m.**

"I must admit, Jarod, Operation "Reset" was a success…"

"It's going to be useless if you don't set up an indictment and a warrant for a blitz by tomorrow…" Jarod replied.

Zane sighed. Her technicians and the C.I.A.'s and F.B.I.'s had been working for hours on the data Jarod sent them, and they were discovering the weirdest things. An organization stealing children, exploiting minds and everything to make experiments well beyond the edge of legality, to obtain contracts for millions of dollars.

"The Centre is a well-oiled machine, Jarod…if we move too fast too soon we might risk to cut off an harm of the monster. We could hurt it, yes, but to stop it we must kill it!"

Jarod thought the metaphor Agent Zane had used was fitting like a glove to The Centre. That was the reason because it was important that the N.S.A. would intervene the day after, when all the highest exponents of the Triumvirate would be at The Centre.

"Zane, you read those files…my brother and me have been working on them for hours…there are names, contracts, evidence, tests results, medical charts…whatever you need to lower the curtain on The Centre history is in those gigas we downloaded this morning!" he replied, definitely angry.

Ethan, on his hand, was working at his laptop and selecting data and names to match them with real persons, who could be charged with different crimes such as corruption, blackmail, extortion, kidnap, even murder.

"Jarod…there are hundreds of names, maybe thousands links to The Centre… that organization has been financing researches with laundered money since the years of the cold war, it's not easy to make all the information match!"

"I don't care if you cannot find the key to the problem!" Jarod growled "You must move tomorrow because there will be the greatest Centre financiers, the Africans of the Triumvirate! You read about them, they're unscrupulous persons. The money they the Centre gained illegally was also used to finance hundreds of armed clashes in Africa, maybe even mass genocides!"

Jarod thought about the simulations he and Alex had done and that might have inspired even the Ruanda genocide of 1994. One of the sin he would never forgive himself for.

Zane didn't know what to say "I know it's personal to you, Jarod…"

"Personal is an euphemism, agent Zane…all my life was manipulated by that place…it's time for The Centre owners to end up in the place they most belong to: behind bars!"

"Your father deposition was useful…" she commented.

"And what about the boy?" he asked her, thinking about Jesse.

"I'm still wondering how is it possible that he looks exactly like…the boy that is in some videos of the 70's and who had been trained by a man named Sydney…"

Jarod felt his blood curdling in his veins, Ethan noticed his discouragement feelings.

"You…you saw those videos?"

Jarod didn't know that there was still a copy of _his_ DSAs inside The Centre database.

"Strange coincidence that his name is just Jarod, isn't it? It's not a very common name…"

"No…it's not…" he whispered, getting quiet.

Zane understood she hit on the nail. And she didn't need anything else, now she knew that boy grown up in captivity, far from his family, deserved that his kidnappers were punished.

"I'm doing all I can to put together a team ready for tomorrow, Jarod…I'll be in touch, but I can't promise nothing!"

Jarod changed his face and started to smile again "Thank you, Zane…I knew I could trust you…and by doing so…we're paying them back for Eddie too"

Zane nodded to herself, thinking about her colleague and how much she missed his presence on the field.

"If I don't hear from you by the next twelve hours…I'm going to move, with or without you" Jarod said.

"Should this be…you won't have a coverage and you'll have to get inside at your own risk…"

"That's why I hope I'll be hearing from you in twelve hours…"

Jarod ended the call and looked at Ethan, then he sat next to him and rubbed his eyes. He was tired, but it wasn't a physical fatigue. He was tired because of his all existence as a fugitive. He wanted it to end. And maybe now he had the chance to end the domain of terror of The Centre.

"She's coming." Ethan whispered.

Jarod lifted his eyes and looked at his brother "You think so? What do the voices say?"

Ethan smiled "That the prophecies will come true…"

"I hope only the part concerning us, little brother!" a voice at their backs said.

It was Parker, she had entered in the house silently to catch them by surprise, for once. Jarod stood up and ran to hug her, Ethan looked at them with discretion and felt the usual huge please to see them together.

The kiss they shared was longer than usual, then she left his lips and gave him a punch on his arm. Jarod shouted and then looked at her in amusement "What was it for? The rubbish or the phone call?"

Parker looked at him with rage "For both! What did those words mean? It didn't seem to me that you were really pretending, at the phone!"

Ethan guessed there was such a thick air he could cut it, so he stood up and moved "Ehm…I'm going to my bedroom to…"

"Sit!" she screamed, stopping her brother who sat again, terrorized.

"Parker…that was just a game, as we used to do before…"

"You had arranged it, hadn't you?" she asked him, a bit hurt by the revelation "You'd left that lair a couple of months ago, so Lyle said…If I didn't come to New Haven, you would send me there without a doubt, wouldn't you?"

Jarod smiled "I would have done many other things, if you didn't show up there…Certainly, I wouldn't have done this."

He approached her with caution and took her hand, then he took it to his lips and kissed it, full of love for her. Ethan smiled for his brother's shrewdness.

Miss Parker seemed to melt down a bit "The Triumvirate mail, however, has been put there recently…"

Ethan coughed "Ehm…I've put it there the other day…" he explained, feeling he had to give her an explanation.

Parker giggled "You two are going to drive me crazy!"

Jarod understood that was the moment of peace, so he dragged her towards him "Did you like my lair in New York?"

"I've enjoyed watching Lyle submerged by rubbish" she answered, sincerely "But I would have expected even some rats!"

Jarod looked at her, pretending to be disappointed "Parker! Do you think I would have endangered your health and our baby's by sending you to a place filled with diseased mice?"

"Then you shouldn't let me go to The Centre every single day…" she whispered, in answer.  
All three of them started to laugh, Jarod kissed her again.

"Now, let's go to the bad news" she continued "Hasani's arrival was fixed for tomorrow at 2 o' clock in the afternoon, my brother is going to fetch him with an escort of sweepers never seen before…"

"I'm not afraid of them. They're many, all brawn, no brains."

"Wait, Dorothy" she interrupted him, by quoting _The Wizard of Oz_ "Lyle informed me of a few things, today…it seems that Hasani and his disciples are coming not only to verify the job of the most disastrous pursuit team in history…"

"Which is the three of you?" Ethan asked, not understanding his sister's irony. Jarod, instead, understood it immediately.

"Yeah…Lyle and Raines said that Hasani wants to take Michael to Africa, just as they did with Alex, and as they wanted to do with you too…"

"When?" Jarod screamed.

"As soon as he's old enough to start his simulations…" she explained.

"Years?" Ethan asked.

"Months." Jarod commented "A boy with our son's abilities will start to fully develop his inner sense even before being three years old…and with our pretender gene…he's going to be more efficient than me…even than you, Ethan!"

Parker seemed very tired. Looking at his two brothers, Ethan realized they were both feeling apprehension.

"We need to take him away from there…tomorrow!" Jarod said.

"Have we Agent Zane's cover?" Parker asked.

Jarod pulled up his shoulders and sighed deeply "I don't know…"

The woman had heard him answering that way just one other time in her life, when at the phone he had sincerely confessed her that he didn't know who had murdered Tommy. She had shouted at him, even if she knew he was sincere. And in that moment, she felt Jarod was full of doubt and uncertainty.

"We cannot move without the authorities, Jarod…it would be of no use!"

"Parker…we won't have such an opportunity anymore!" he replied.

"I don't care!" she screamed, standing up in rage "To get inside The Centre to kidnap the baby would be a suicide…you made it today just because Broots helped you, but tomorrow we'll be busy, following the Triumvirate in a panoramic tour of The Centre Amusement Park, we won't be of any help!"

"Sis, we don't have any other choice…Michael is in danger and the prophecies are clear about it, the Triumvirate knows them: the only way they have to survive is to take Michael away and make him become a new pretender! If they succeeded, The Centre would continue to thrive!"

Parker snorted. The idea of Jarod and Ethan in danger drove her crazy.

"If you don't want to hear me, then listen to our brother, Parker…he's objective, in this whole story!"

"We're talking about his nephew, explain me what objective means to you!?" Miss Parker shouted, noticing that her brother was smiling. Ethan found their quarrels to be challenging.

"So, you have a better idea?" Jarod asked, feeling for once with his back to the wall.

Parker kept silence, for a few moments, her voices were starting to talk turbulent in her head.

"I'll take care of Michael…"

"What?" Ethan and Jarod screamed together.

"I'm bringing him out…I don't want Hasani to touch him not even with a finger, he mustn't even be able to watch him…"

Jarod was furious "Let me get this straight…it is too dangerous for us both to get inside The Centre, in spite of the fact we did it successfully today…but it's easier for you to take our son outside, under the eyes of the Triumvirate?"

Parker could hear resentment in his words, but it couldn't be in any other way. Truth was, Michael was also Jarod's son. But that was something about her, because their baby had been carried by the woman who had killed Tommy. Because her father had pretended that he was her brother and not a fruit of her own flesh and blood. Because Michael trusted her. Because she preferred risking her own life, instead of the ones of the two people she loved more in the whole world.

"Parker…just for a moment…try to remember that you're pregnant…" Jarod commented.

"Do you think I don't know that?" she shouted "I'm the one who's dragging along with daily nauseas! It doesn't seem to me that you're getting around throwing up everything you've eaten!"

_There she is, again_, Ethan thought, smiling.

"All right…" Jarod gave up "Do you have a plan?"

"We're fixing an appointment. We must find a way to distract Hasani and the others of the Triumvirate and then I'm bringing Michael outside…I know whose help I'm going to ask to do it in a very silent and clean way. Someone who's able to get outside without being noticed, a man invisible to all the cameras…"

"Angelo…" Ethan agreed.

Parker nodded. She had to ask very much to her friend, specially because he was still recovering from the terrible wound that had almost killed him. But he was the only one who could save her son through the air ducts. He could get out almost undisturbed.

"So we're endangering him too, Parker." Jarod pointed out.

"I know…but he was the one who said that to me…a few hours ago, he asked me to let him help…he was the one who made me understand that was the only way to bring him out…"

Jarod believed Miss Parker, but he still didn't like the idea.

"If Agent Zane shows up, we're going to organize ourselves to get inside The Centre and make a clean sweep…I'm coming along with NSA…"

"And what if Zane can't make it?" Ethan asked.

"You have to find a way to take away me, Sydney, and Broots before Hasani understands that we were the ones who made Michael disappear…" Parker answered.

In that moment, she saw it again. The dream that was haunting her. Raines was threatening her: she had to choose between Michael and Jarod. And she didn't know what to do.

Ethan saw it too, she was sure. Jarod, anyway, didn't notice the gaze the two brothers had secretly shared. Parker thought strongly, hoping that her brother would hear her.

_I need to talk with you._

Probably Ethan guessed what her thought were, because he nodded imperceptibly.

"I'm going to have a shower" Jarod said, in need of some relax. He approached Parker and stroked her belly, then he went away, in the direction of the bathroom.

As soon as the woman and Ethan heard him open the faucet and the water roaring, they got next to each other and moved towards the kitchen, as far as possible from Jarod's ears.

"Ethan…I need to understand what that damned dream means!" she whispered, trying to make him understand how much annoyed she was by that vision she didn't comprehend.

"I'm seeing it continuously, sis…I see you at the mercy of destiny, Raines obliging you to make a choice between Jarod…and Michael…"

"I don't want to be forced to choose between the man I love and our son!" she replied, furiously.

"You cannot run from fate, Miss Parker…"

"Why can't I see beyond my choice? Why must everything be so complicated? Why the voices don't help me understand…"

The woman was heartbroken and pained for what was waiting for her. Ethan wanted to cheer her up, but he couldn't. He didn't know where that vision would lead, and he felt that something terrible would have happened the day after. He had a presentiment, like an omen. An omen of death.

"You feel it too, don't you?"

Ethan nodded "The voices got quiet anytime I try to ask them about tomorrow's events…it's…as if they don't want to anticipate anything, as if for the first time they are going to leave me alone, facing the future…"

"Ethan…do you think that tomorrow…do you really believe that something could happen to Jarod or Michael?"

Ethan sighed. He didn't want to believe it, but he knew his inner sense. They couldn't expect anything good from the arrival of the Triumvirate.

Miss Parker turned around, her arms folded in tension. The only idea she had didn't convince her, but she didn't have any other choice.

"And if I asked you…" she said her brother, turning around again "to keep Jarod far from The Centre…at any cost…whatever happens…"

Ethan stared at her, questioningly.

"If I asked you to force him to run away with our son…even if that was in exchange for my life…"

Ethan shook his head fast "No, no, no!" he said "I'm not letting anything happens to you…no one has to sacrifice. I'm not interested in destroying The Centre tomorrow, we have time to do it…we're taking Michael away, and then we're leaving that place…all of us!"

Parker smiled, she thought her beloved little brother goodness was very naïf "Ethan…promise me…if I have to sacrifice myself at Jarod's place…swear to me that you'll drag him away with our son…"

Ethan shook his head once again, he didn't want to listen to her.

"Promise me, little brother!"

Ethan stared at her. He had never seen her more resolute and firm. But in the end, nothing would have happened. Miss

Parker's dream could be just a revelatory dream. Maybe she wouldn't have needed to make any choice. Maybe everything would have been fine.

"I promise you…" he whispered.

* * *

Broots and Sydney had received a coded message in the same moment. The text was very clear. They had to go to Miss Parker's house that night, at three o' clock. Not a moment before, not a second after.

That afternoon, Miss Parker had asked Broots to make Debbie leave to go visit her mother. He hadn't explained her why, but the girl hadn't complained. Jarod had managed to put an F.B.I. special agents patrol permanently assigner to the woman's house. Zane hadn't objected when Jarod had said they were two witnesses at risk because they were involved with one of the men who was going to help him getting inside The Centre. The same thing had been done for Michelle and Nicholas, who had been informed by Sydney that he would disappear for a while to solve some unresolved issues with The Centre. Michelle had guessed that something was finally changing for the man she had been in love with for so many years, but she hadn't asked him not to oblige him to reveal details that could put her in any danger.

At three a.m., Sydney and Broots arrived at Miss Parker's house and got inside from the back, as they had been told to do. Once inside, they were welcomed by a very soft light, almost imperceptible, which came from the living room. On the couch, Jarod, Ethan and Parker were waiting for them. Jarod with a serious and surly face. Parker with a very tired one. And on Ethan's face just the hope.

Sydney would have earned millions, if he had patients like them, under normal circumstances. But their ones weren't normal lives.

"Thanks for coming." Jarod said.

"Jarod…" Sydney smiled. Realizing that he hadn't seen his mentor for a very long time, Jarod stood up and reached him to hold him.

Broots was a bit amazed when Jarod held him too, and he stuttered a "H-hello, J-jarod!"

"We all know why we are here…I'm waiting for news from N.S.A. Agent Zane, who should guarantee us a cover for tomorrow afternoon. If everything goes as I expect, dozens of federal agents are going to break inside The Centre and arrest the Tower ones, as well as the aware technicians who cooperated with them all these years…"

Silence fell dramatically and nobody dared to speak.

"It's useless to say that I don't want to see none of you ending up behind bars. Zane already knows about your involvement, I hope they're going to guarantee you the so called "informer-status", in the hope that you don't have to pass more than one or two nights at house arrest…"

Broots sighed, a bit relieved. He couldn't afford ending up in prison with a daughter to grow and maintain.

"Yet, we have a problem…Zane hasn't called yet, then I'm not so sure about the authorities intervention… Parker told me about Michael and the plan the Triumvirate has for him…I won't let my son have the same fate I had to endure for thirty years, Sydney!"

"Meaning?" Sydney asked, guessing where he was going with that.

"Jarod wants to take Michael away from The Centre, tomorrow…" Ethan explained.

"This is crazy, Jarod! Tomorrow I won't be able to help you with all those Africans around…Lyle already told us that we must do whatever they ask, we can't afford to make a false move!" Broots explained.

"He already knows that, Broots…Our Boy Genius has already been given the telling-off by myself…" Parker interrupted him.

"Your calm does not tell me anything good, Miss Parker…" Sydney said.

Jarod looked at the woman, so as Ethan "I'm taking care of Michael…with Angelo…"

"You're reffering to what Angelo said this afternoon, aren't you?" the psychiatrist asked her.

...

_"Angelo…save…Michael…"_

_..._

"I know he's the key to take our baby outside…I completely trust Angelo, I would entrust my own life to him…"

"Me too." Jarod whispered.

"For that matter, me too" Sydney replied, he was the only one who had just tested the importance of trusting Angelo, a few days before "But I don't want to put his life in danger after what he's been through, he's still recovering…"

"It wasn't our choice, he already decided" Jarod explained, showing Sydney a mail that his friend had sent him on their safe mail box.

**Angelo save Michael**

Sydney sighed and gave Broots the paper, he read it. Angelo did have a very high moral fiber. He was going to help Jarod and Parker in spite of everything that had happened to him.

"What's the plan?"

"Hasani and his Zulu troop are arriving at two, Lyle is going to fetch them with an escort and he's bringing them to The Centre. This gives us the time to act undisturbed in the very moment they'll be far…"

"Raines will be there, and I'm sure he's going to keep Little Park…Michael under control!" Broots interrupted him.

"Yes, but Raines must leave to welcome Hasani and he's going to act as the good puppy at least for a couple of minutes, before taking him down to the sublevels. This leaves us a certain margin to move…"

"A certain margin? Aren't we traveling on a razor blade?" Sydney replied, not at all convinced.

"Jarod and Ethan will wait for him outside The Centre. It's Angelo and me who are going to take Michael and he's the one who's going to bring him outside to reach Jarod." Parker continued.

"And what about the cameras?" Broots asked again.

Jarod smiled "In the same way we did today…"

Broots sighed. He didn't like the idea of risking his skin under the nose of the Triumvirate.

"Broots…I wouldn't ask you if it wasn't so important…Ethan will check the security from the outside, he's going to help you to stop the cameras…" Parker whispered, taking his arm and making him feel all the affection she felt for him. Broots remembered that his daughter was under the F.B.I. protection because of Jarod. He couldn't refuse.

"Once taken Michael out, everything's going to be much more complicated…nobody must suspect that you were the ones to act against The Centre, it must seems that I was the one who got inside to take the baby outside. With the help of my family…that's why I've asked my father to reach me in Blue Cove, to help me corroborating the appearances…we're going to show up not far from here, tomorrow morning…"

"With everything that he has to do, Lyle won't waste his time to follow such an ephemeral lead and will leave to the three of us the pursuit of Jarod…which obviously we're not going to do!" Parker wanted to point out.

"And which obviously you wouldn't have been able to do even if you had me under your nose!"

Parker gave him a nip and he faked to be hurt, while Sydney smiled.

"Then there's only one more thing to do: wait for the F.B.I. and N.S.A. arrival, in the hope that Zane manages to convince her bosses to organize the fastest annihilation mission of the whole history…"

Sydney shook his head "I don't know Jarod…this seems to simple…"

Ethan agreed with the psychiatrist. His sense of anxiety was manifesting itself continuously.

"We don't have any other choice, Syd…I can't afford the risk that the Triumvirate put its eyes on my son!" Miss Parker replied.

"And if anything goes wrong?"

"Even today we took some risk, but everything worked! In the past I've been discovered by The Centre because of an only reason: I didn't have someone helping me from the inside! Now it's different…Lyle and Raines aren't expecting such a sudden betrayal from you, they don't know we've been cooperating for days, by now!"

"And they don't know that Miss Parker had stopped chasing you for years, indeed…" Sydney remarked.

Parker blushed a bit, taken aback from that revelation. But wasn't it true that since Tommy's death her will to hunt and catch Jarod had faded? Not to mention when she had found out about Jesse's existence, that had opened her eyes about the feelings she had always felt for him. Or when she had understood that the Major wasn't her mother's killer…Parker hadn't chased Jarod to _find_ him, but just to be sure that no one else would find him _before_ she could, as usual, let him escape. Jarod took her hand and squeezed it in a sincere and automatic way. Every revelation about that woman's feelings was making him more proud of her.

"Tomorrow is our moment, Syd…I'm taking my son away under their noses, and they won't even understand how it happened!"

Ethan and Parker had the same flash at the same time: Raines, holding Michael.

_"You must choose, Miss Parker…"_

The two brothers gasped, and this didn't go unnoticed in Jarod's eyes.

"Are you two okay?" he asked them both.

"Yes…" she whispered.

"Yes, big brother…sometimes our voices are…too much intrusive!" Ethan lied. Then he took her sister a look full of meaning.

"Now let's go to sleep…tomorrow's gonna be a long day, I'll be in touch by using your safe line!"

Sydney and Broots nodded and reached the back door.

Jarod followed them and his mentor stopped a few seconds to look at him "You know, Jarod…I would have wanted to have the courage to tell you before, but…I'm proud of you…of what you became…"

Jarod felt the emotion and the well known lump in his throat growing together with tears of pure joy. He had wished for years to hear those words coming from the man he considered like a father.

"Thank you, Syd…"

"It's going to be okay…" he commented, giving him a cheering look.

Jarod nodded and closed the door behind him.

I hope so, Sydney.

* * *

**Reviews would be very much appreciated!**


	15. Chapter 15: Waiting

**DISCLAIMER**

We already knew he was alive, but we're finally meeting him during this chapter.

The plan J & Parker were trying to accomplish won't go as they've been hoping...

Not an English speaker, blah blah blah. See previous chapters to know the reasons why I'm not really the best writer around here! :)

* * *

**Chapter 15: Waiting**

**BLUE COVE**  
**9.00 a.m.**

Major Charles was wearing sunglasses and looking around, checking the area and taking care that no one had noticed their presence. Next to him, Jesse was nervously biting his nails, that was a gesture he had developed in total autonomy and in opposition to Jarod, who had never had that vice.

"Stop it, son…" the Major kindly chided him.

"I can't help it, dad. I'm nervous!" he replied.

As they had agreed, Jarod arrived in front of them in that moment, also wearing sunglasses and showing off the most artificial encouragement smile he could make.

"Dad!" he shouted, holding the Major. Then his eyes suddenly fell over Jess. His presence wasn't part of the plan.

"Why did you bring him with you? This could be dangerous!"

"I insisted! That NSA agent…"

"Zane?" Jarod asked.

"Yes…she didn't stop making questions about The Centre, about Mr. Raines, about Lyle…she seemed never to get enough!" Jesse explained.

"Your statement was useful, then?" he asked them, hoping for a positive answer. He hadn't had any news from his former NSA colleague, yet.

The Major sighed "They aren't ready yet, Jarod. Zane swore she would do anything possible, but…"

Jarod sighed too, in a way that resembled what his father has just done.

"How are we playing this?"

"First of all, we're going to show up in a public place. Our presence must be believable, this can't seem a playground picnic…I thought we could leave a sign of our presence outside one of the buildings which covered a branch of The Centre. It'll be enough if they see us in the surveillance videos…and Jesse's presence is going to be helpful…" Jarod explained, realizing that maybe his father had been right to bring him.

"However we're going to find a safe place for you both right after that, I don't want you in the middle of the uproar when the plan is starting to shape…" Jarod went on.

"Son, I'm not a little girl…you know I'm going to help you taking your son out of that place!"

"No, dad!" Jarod stopped him "This time you've got Jesse to think about…"

"I can take care of myself!" he shouted in answer.

Jarod put an hand through his hair and ruffled it.

"I know, Jes…you're much stronger than me, as pretender…but this is a complicated thing, too many persons are in danger, Miss Parker included…and she wouldn't like to know that I've dragged you in this mess, she cares for you very much, you know…" Jarod explained.

Jesse nodded, if for no other thought than he didn't want to worry a pregnant woman.

"Fine…let's go!"

* * *

**THE CENTRE**  
**In the meantime**

Miss Parker and Sydney were waiting for Broots to appear in her office. He was a few minutes late. Parker was walking back and forth, her eyes sometimes fell on her laptop monitor, where Michael's room surveillance video continuously showed her son. That day, the coming and going inside his room was even more frenetic than usual.

"It won't be easy to take him out of here, Syd…"

"Have faith, Parker…" he cheered her up.

Broots peeped out from the door "I'm sorry that I'm late!"

"Where the hell have you been?" she growled.

"At t-the phone with Debbie…I wanted to make sure that she's fine…" he mumbled.

Miss Parker closed her mouth and bit the bullet.

"I'm sorry, Broots…"

He nodded tenderly.

Parker stared at the those two men who had followed her for so many years as two loyal puppies, without asking for anything in return. She looked at them with pride and admiration, because she knew that in a couple of hours they would risk their lives to help her and Jarod to save Michael, and maybe non just him.

"I want you two to know something…" she said.

Sydney and Broots hang on her words.

"I've never head a real family…my mother disappeared so soon and my so-presumed father was always working or not very involved…in these five years I've felt close just to a bunch of people…one is out there, risking his neck to draw the attention of The Centre cameras…"

Sydney smiled in amusement, and so did Broots. The refer to Jarod was obvious.

"The second one is around, somewhere, maybe hidden in an air duct, but he's going to appear as soon as the time to bring Michael outside comes…" Parker kept her breath for a few seconds, thinking about how much she felt close to Angelo in that moment.

"But if I'm here today…I mostly owe it to…the two persons who are in this room with me in this very moment…I've always considered you as a father and a brother, much more than I've ever done with Mr. Parker or Lyle…even if sometimes I've treated you as toe rag, I admit I've always been looking for your support and comprehension…"

Syd and Broots looked at her, almost touched.

"Whatever happens…I'm always going to feel this way for you…"

Sydney didn't wait a second more to hug that woman he had seen grow and that he considered to be like a daughter. Broots stared at the scene with discretion, smiling and keeping a teardrop.

Sydney took Miss Parker's face in his hands "You can always count on us, Parker…always, whatever happens."

"Always…" Broots confirmed.

She smiled and sniffed, then regained control of herself "Fine. Let's go! According to our schedule we still have an half an hour before Jarod's sighting in Blue Cove is announced…let's try not to let them wait for us too much and let's play our part as scripted!"

§

"Are you sure this is the place?" the Major asked.

The man didn't seem convinced. His son had explained them that the music shop façade did cover to a Centre Data Annex. Years before, when Damon hadn't come back in Jarod's life yet, that same structure had been hidden behind a curio shop. But after Damon had killed all its employers and destroyed everything, The Centre had had to find a new location. They hoped to keep Jarod unaware, but there wasn't anything that he didn't know about The Centre branches.

"More than sure." he answered his father and Jesse, who was looking at him in admiration. He adored his older "brother", he was his model and the idea to become like him, one day, filled him with pride. Sometimes it wasn't easy to be considered as his copy, as his shadow. But Jarod never weighed him with this genetic descent, rather he had always pushed him to show his qualities and gifts as a unique individual, inviting him to give his best everyday, to live his existence to "every teaspoon", to savor every present the life could offer him, was it a taste of a vanilla ice-cream or the love of his beloved.

"Fine…let's go…and remember what we said before…"

"Poker faces." Jesse answered, nodding. The Major grinned, noticing how much the boy resembled his older son. Then the three of them got towards the entering of the music shop…

§

Lyle entered Miss Parker's office without even caring to knock. Behind him, there were a couple of sweepers and Mr. Raines.

"Jarod sneaked inside one of our Data Annex!" he shouted against his sister, looking bad at her and Sydney.

"And what the hell should I do about it?" she replied, extending her never-ending legs, almost entirely visibly because of the miniskirt she was wearing that day, her fists resting on her hips.

"Your job is to pursuit Jarod, and yet it's two times he had been seen in Blue Cove and you don't know anything about it!"

Parker had never seen Lyle more furious. Without any doubt his rage derived from the fact that wasn't the right day to take the risk of Jarod sneaking in their business. After all, the members of the Triumvirate were arriving for the first time after Adama's death.

"Broots, the surveillance videotapes!" Parker shouted.

"Ehm…actually, Miss Parker, I was already doing a work for Sydney and…"

"Now!" she screamed.

"Y-yes, Miss Parker…"

Broots sat at his computer, in evident state of agitation, and he started to type codes to enter inside the peripheral security system of The Centre. The twins stood behind him, followed by Sydney and Raines.

The video images didn't leave any doubt: captured during their search of who-knew-what in that little office filled with computers and data processors, there were Jarod, Major Charles, and even Jarod's clone.

"But…isn't it…" Broots starter.

"Gemini…" Raines conclude for him, looking at the boy and Jarod with a look that let his absolute lust surface: the will to find both his more precious pretenders and bring them back to The Centre.

Parker couldn't stand the idea of hearing Raines calling Jesse like that. But she couldn't reveal her beloved father that she knew the name Jarod had given to the individual he considered as a brother.

"What the hell were they doing in Blue Cove?" Miss Parker demanded, looking at Sydney.

"Look at the time, sis" Lyle said, cutting short "Jarod, his father and the freak were there just twenty minutes ago…they could still be around!"

"Jarod is too smart to be caught in such a stupid way…" Sydney replied.

"Well, let's move if we want at least _try_ to get close, this time…" Miss Parker concluded.

Broots, Sydney and Parker were almost exiting the office, but Lyle, Raines and the sweepers didn't move. The twin was looking at Raines and seemed very tense.

Parker glared at him "I know that silly pez-head is always a step ahead of us, but we'll never catch him if don't even try to follow his lead…"

"You go ahead…we can't move today…"

"The Africans won't be here before this afternoon, we have all the time to go and search for clues…I don't think the Triumvirate would be glad to know that Jarod's pursuit has been overshadowed by something else…" Parker said.

"You take care of it, sis…after all…it's _your_ job to bring Jarod back to The Centre, isn't it?"  
Parker smiled, a bit worried by Lyle's inquisitive voice "What do you mean by that?"

"That this afternoon you will need much more than your usual excuse _Jarod is always a step ahead of us_ to explain your incessant failures to the Triumvirate…"

Lyle was now smiling in satisfaction. And he really thought what he was saying: he wouldn't have wanted to be at her place, when the Africans would start making questions.

Raines understood that it was the moment for him to talk to calm tempers when he saw Miss Parker making a step forwards and looking at her brother eye-to-eye "We don't have time for family quarrels now. Parker, bring Broots and Sydney with you and visit the Data Annex. Lyle and I are staying and think about Little Parker. We must prepare him for the important day he's going to face…"

Miss Parker tried not to let surface her agony when she heard him talking about her son in that way. She upheld Lyle's gaze for a few seconds more, than she gave up when Syd put a hand on her shoulder "Let's go, Miss Parker…"

"See ya later." she growled through clenched teeth.

"Looking forward…" Lyle answered.

§

Jarod, the Major and Jesse were in a motel outside Blue Cove, and they were waiting for Parker's call. It was a couple of minutes late, and Jarod was starting to worry. He walked back and forth, always retracing the same meters of the floor.

"Calm down, son…she's calling." his father cheered him up.

"What if something happened? What if they discovered our game?" he asked, starting to become a victim of his own maniacal phobias. The idea of knowing that the woman he loved and was carrying his daughter was at the mercy of her psychopathic brother Lyle couldn't certainly put him in a good mood.

"Miss Parker knows her stuff, Jarod…she doesn't let herself get pushed around from anyone, not even you!" Jesse smiled.

"About that, you are right indeed…" Jarod answered, smiling and relaxing a bit.

In that moment, his cell phone rang. He ran to take it, while the other two men in the room approached him with curiosity.

"Parker?!" Jarod asked, transmitting all his anxiety to her.

From the other hand, the woman was in the car with Broots and Sydney. The psychiatrist was driving, and was going at cruise speed.

"It seems that we're coming to search for you inside a Centre Data Annex which is located a few miles from my house, in the centre of Blue Cove…any chance that you are becoming a stalker?" she asked him.

Jarod sighed in relief and waited a few more seconds, before answering "Are you all right?"

The woman was surprised by his sincere and worried question, she had excepted the usual joke in answer to her provocation. But maybe that wasn't the right time to joke.

"Yes, it's just the three of us, just as you and Ethan thought…Lyle and Raines stood back, they're babysitting our son…"

"I'm giving them no tip at all for the umpteenth hours spent taking care of our baby at instead of us…"

Now Parker recognized him. She smiled and Sydney, at the driver's seat, noticed her expression with one eye. In that moment he thought with pride that it was so beautiful to see her so calm despite the circumstances.

"If everything goes as we hope…maybe these will be even the last."

"I hope so…" Jarod whispered.

Trying to ease the tension and keep the tears, Parker made a last note to the pretender "Oh, Jarod…tell Jesse I say hi, and tell him that with the years he's getting much more handsome than you were at his age…maybe I'm going to visit him again in a decade!"

Jarod laughed out loud and took a look at Jesse, who stared at him in response, without understanding why his attention was suddenly turned to him.

"This isn't fair, Miss Parker…it took you much more time with me…"

"But I fell for you when you were more or less as old as Jesse…when I see him, it is normal that I feel the irrepressible desire to leave his older version to embark myself on an affair to the limit of pedophilia!"

Sydney looked at her all at once, he couldn't believe to what Parker had just admitted. It wasn't for what she had just said, but because she had confessed it in front of them! Broots was still shocked, when Parker ended the call by saying

"Be careful…see you at the rendezvous!". She made a last smile for something Jarod answered her and then she closed the communication and put away the phone.

"Miss Parker, sometimes your humor gives me the creeps…" Broots commented.

"It's just skirmishes between lovers, Broots, relax…nobody in the whole world has the luck I have to take advantage of the clone of the man I love as a pretext to pretend to make him jealous…"

Broots shook his head, but Sydney, who didn't loose the tender expression on her face, wanted to know another thing "What did Jarod say, before hanging up?"

Miss Parker turned and looked at him. Even if Sydney didn't move his eyes from the street in front of him, he was stretched towards her.

Noticing Broots' gaze full of expectations, Parker said "He said that with each passing day I look more and more like my mother…and he's proud of me…"

Sydney smiled "And he's right…she'll be proud of you, when everything's over…"

"That's what I hope…" she whispered, turning her gaze towards the window.

* * *

**THE CENTRE**  
**1.00 p.m.**

"Any sign of Jarod?" Lyle asked, seeing Miss Parker entering her office escorted, as always, by Broots and Sydney.

"Nothing that leaped to the eye, brother…just the umpteenth message to make fun of us…" she explained, giving Lyle a piece of paper where there was written:

** One step closer to the truth.**  
** Tell the Zulus I say hi.**  
** J**

"And so we lost the element of surprise…our _enfant prodige_ is aware of your important meeting with the Africans…what do you think, is it time to put a complete review of our security system in The Centre budget?"  
Lyle grinded his teeth, while Sydney and Broots shared an amused look.

"Raines and I are going…we're fetching Hasani at the airport. Alert the security and put sweepers at every door. I want every window of this damned place hermetically sealed and guarded. We cannot afford the risk of intromissions by Jarod today!"

Miss Parker was expecting such a request, but Lyle didn't know that it would be Angelo and her to bring the baby outside. Raines couldn't know that one of them was helping Jarod from the _inside_.

"Let's go!" Lyle shouted, talking with the two sweepers with him.

As soon as her brother moved, Parker nodded in agreement at Sydney and Broots, who followed her in Angelo's room.

The technician had checked it that very morning, making it isolated from indiscreet eyes and ears. They could speak freely.

As soon as they reached it, Angelo stood up from the floor and stared at Miss Parker, smiling "Angelo…help…Michael…"

The woman lavished him a smile that could have melted a perennial glacier "Exactly, Angelo…"

The empath smiled.

"Broos, test the connections…" she said to her colleague.

Broots sat at his laptop, where he would monitor the situation. He put an invisible earphone at his right ear, then he open the connection with the outside.

"_Porter_ talking, _Docker_ do you copy?" Broots said, going back to the codenames they had used for _Operation Reset_.

§

Outside The Centre, Ethan and Jarod were once again in position. They didn't have to do anything, this time, but wait. They sat in a car, with Ethan monitoring the sublevel room where Michael was. The boy seemed calm, even if he had been strangely left alone.

"_Oracle_ and _Docker_ in position, ready to receive the package, _Porter_" Jarod said, giving a look full of affection to the son he hadn't been able to hold yet.

"Tell Jarod to stop it with this stupid _Mission-Impossible_-nicknames, we don't have time for clownings!" Miss Parker shouted, getting closer to the desk where Broots was sitting.

§

Ethan took an amused gaze at his brother, while Jarod smiled in answer "And you tell Miss Parker that she's always the party pooper!"

§

Broots had put Jarod through speakerphone, with the result that even Sydney and the woman listened to his ironic statement. Parker opened her mouth "Look who's talking, the killjoy-pretender! You have been a pain in my ass for how long, six years? You know how many parties did you spoil, don't you?"

Jarod smiled "Just the ones where you were bored to death because you were missing me, Parker."

Sydney and Broots shared another look. As usual, Jarod had the last word.

Miss Parker was going to answer back, but she desist "What can I do, this man knows me too well…" she concluded, taking Angelo by his arm and leaving the room.

§

"Do you think they're going to make it?" Ethan asked, starting to biting his nails.

"We have plenty of time, before Lyle and Raines come back from the airport…" Jarod answered.

"You didn't answer my question…" Ethan replied, making a nervous smile.

Jarod sighed, looking at his watch. It was 1.15 a.m.

"What do the voices say?" he asked his brother.

Ethan closed his eyes "Today they aren't very loquacious…I hear them in turmoil…and yet, they aren't saying anything about what's going to happen…it seems that they're waiting too…"

"That's a pity…"

"Why?" Ethan asked. Jarod looked at him and then took a gun from a suitcase he had next to him. He took it in his hands and loaded it.

"I hoped you'd give me good news…"

Parker and Angelo were walking across The Centre. At the indiscreet eyes of the personnel, it seems that the woman was dragging around the building the last survivor exemplary of the pretender experiment, the last "red file" that couldn't run away from The Centre. Miss Parker excluded, obviously.

Parker pulled Angelo by his arm and he let her drag himself, with that almost-worried look that he had always had when he had something to do with his "old friend" during the first years of the Jarod pursuit.

By now, Angelo wasn't afraid of Miss Parker anymore, and he showed as soon as they got inside the elevator that was leading them down to SL-19. Angelo changed his expression and looked at Miss Parker, who shared a fleeting look with him. Then the woman smiled, while they waited for the elevator to go across the meters that were dividing them from the sublevel where they would "steal" her son.

When she noticed that they were closer, Parker pressed the button that blocked the means. Angelo looked at her a bit worried, trying to understand what she wanted to do.

Miss Parker turned, her back towards the door.

"Angelo, are you sure you want to do this? You've just been dismissed, you're still weak and…"

Realizing that she couldn't say what she felt to a person like Angelo, the woman sighed and squeezed her eyes, banging her heels on the floor.

"God, why is this so difficult?!"

Angelo grabbed her hands and looked at her with encouragement "Angelo…help…Michael…and Miss Parker and Jarod…finally leave…together!"

The woman stared at him intensely, her wonderful blue-grey eyes were drowning inside the ones of her childhood friend.

"I don't want anything to happen to you, Angelo…" she whispered.

He smiled and and squeezed her hands. Then he reached the keyboards and pressed again the block button, allowing the elevator to restart towards its destination.

Miss Parker sniffed, keeping her tears in her eyes. She needed to have a clear mind, in that moment.

She took a hand to her right ear and activate the earphone just as the elevator was reaching the floor and outputting the arrival sound. The doors opened.

"Broots, we're in position. Send the cameras in loop. And let's hope for the best…" she stated.

§

Listening to that comment in his earphone, and realizing that determined and brave woman was afraid, maybe for the first time in her whole life, Jarod was the one who spoke.

"We're here, Parker…if anything goes wrong, Ethan and I are ready to intervene." he said, giving his brother a look.

Strangely, Ethan didn't give him one of his silent nods, but a worried and absorbed expression. Jarod wondered what he was pondering. He couldn't know that his brother was remembering the conversation that he had with her just a few hours before.

...

_"Ethan…promise me…if I have to sacrifice myself at Jarod's place…swear to me that you'll drag him away with our son…"_  
_Ethan shook his head once again, he didn't want to listen to her._  
_"Promise me, little brother!"_  
_"I promise you…" he whispered._

_..._

"You won't put your nose inside here, not even if you must go over my dead body!" Miss Parker snapped, exiting the elevator with Angelo at her heels.

"Loop is ready!" Broots said from Angelo's room, where he was staying with Sydney.

"I won't let you down there if something goes wrong!" Jarod reminded her.

"Don't you dare get close to this place, Jarod, do you understand?" she replied, her whispers becoming like silent screams.

"We won't need to go that far!" Ethan interrupted them. Jarod stared at him and decided that he was right, that wasn't the moment to fight. Parker, on her hand, realized her brother had got her message and was keeping the promise he had made her. Jarod was safe, until Ethan was with him.

"Let's go, Angelo…" she whispered.

§

The steps towards Michael's room were as silent as possible. In spite of the many centimeters of heels that were raising Miss Parker from the floor, that woman could move as stealthily as a cat. That was an ability that Jarod had always appreciated in her, mostly because it had allowed him on many occasions to enjoy the spectacular view of the kilometric and wonderful legs of his pursuer.

Angelo was guiding and moving towards little Michael's room. When they reached it, they realized that SL seemed strangely silent and desert, not as they had seen it other times. And it wasn't normal that in such an important day for The Centre future there were no sweepers controlling the corridors or the pretender-to-be's room. Parker started to have a _gut feeling_. And yet, looking around, she couldn't see anything threatening.

§

"My son?" Jarod asked his brother.  
Ethan was looking at the video, almost enchanted "Everything's okay…"

§

Angelo got next to the door and opened it, entering the room with a calm not competing him. He seemed different than usual, more "normal". As if, for a moment, there was much more than a feeble memory of the _Timmy_ that he had been.  
Parker reached her son's crib, checked just be Ethan and Broots' eyes. The surveillance team, in that moment, could see only Michael playing placidly in his bed.

The woman bended towards the boy and smiled "Hello, Michael!"

Parker leaned out her arms and the boy stood up, going right between them "Hello, mom!" he said.

Parker sighed and felt the first teardrop falling from her eyes. She moved her gaze on the camera, she let understand the ones who were watching, especially Jarod, that that moment had been intense and special, to her.

Jarod, on his hand, squeezed Ethan's arm strong enough to almost hurt him.

§

"Come here, kiddo, we're going away, now…" she explained her son.

"With daddy?" he asked. He did was smart and sensible, what you could expect from a predestined boy born by the union of a pretender with a woman gifted with the inner sense.

"Of course, sweetie…your daddy is waiting for you, out of here…" she said the boy, without stopping crying, but even without stopping smiling.

Michael let her hold him and looked at his mother, putting his little hand over her hair.

"Are you coming, mom?"

§

This was far enough, for Jarod, who was now crying for the emotion. A few times in his life he had expressed his true feelings so clearly. But to see his son talking about him, without even know him, had took him unprepared. He would have never forgotten that moment, one of the most amazing of his whole life.

§

Broots and Sydney were staring at the scene in religious silence, they were too much touched to say anything. But they were too much touched even to notice the figure approaching them at their shoulders.

§

"You're going with Uncle Angelo, Michael…" Miss Parker explained.

Noticing that the boy was looking at Angelo with fear, Parker cheered him up.

"He's a friend of Mom and Daddy, Michael…you must do whatever he ask you to, now…promise?"

The boy nodded and looked at Angelo with those big brown eyes that resembled so much his father's. The man smiled and took the baby in his hands.

§

Jarod and Ethan had their eyes almost glued to the screen. The active camera was the one in Michael's room, none of them had a view over the ones in the corridor. The situation was constantly monitored by Broots, though.

§

Sydney was the first to turn around. His eyes widened up, so as his mouth, when he realized that behind them there was someone who shouldn't be there at all. Someone who was going to destroy that moment and spoil their plans.

"What…" Sydney said.

Broots turned around while the man started to smile.

"It's useless to try to advise them…we've interrupted your radio communications…" Mr. Raines' husky and malignant voice announced them.

§

Miss Parker approached Angelo and gave a kiss to her baby's soft forehead.  
"He's going to take you to your dead…and in a while we're going to be together, I promise you…"

§

Jarod was looking at the scene, touched, and so was Ethan. Suddenly, however, the voices in his head exploded in a choir of screams.  
While his brother cried for the pain, Jarod got closer to him "Ethan!"

§

In the same moment, Angelo opened his eyes wide and held the baby stronger, looking very worried at Miss Parker.

"Run…now!" he shouted, running outside the room.

"Angelo!" she screamed.

While the pretender exited Michael's room with the baby in his arms, she followed her lifelong friend and her son, trying to stay close to his crazy rush. She didn't need to hold on for long, anyway, because Angelo stopped after a few meters, the way blocked by a group of men.

§

"Jarod…Miss Parker is in danger!" Ethan shouted, regaining control on himself.

"What does it mean…_Porter_, do you copy?" but Jarod didn't have any answers "Parker!" he shouted through the earphone.

But Broots couldn't hear Jarod's voice, because Raines had ordered a couple of sweepers to drag him and Sydney down to SL-19.

§

Miss Parker, on the other hand, placed herself next to Angelo and then in front of him, hiding her friend and son with her own body. In front of her there were five sweepers, three among them with evident African tracts. Behind them, Lyle and a black man who resembled terribly Adama, the man who had been killed on the flight from Glasgow, were making their own way. Miss Parker imagined that might be Hasani.

Angelo was in turmoil and took a gaze to every exit next to him. He couldn't have reached any air duct, from where he was. They were trapped. But how could they find out?

Miss Parker realized that trying to call for help would have been useless, at that point. Without counting the risks for Jarod. And she didn't want to put his life in danger, not even if that would mean sacrifice her own freedom. One thing was for certain, anyway: to take Michael, they would indeed have to pass over her dead body.

"Are you taking the boy to a picnic, sis?" Lyle asked, with a triumphant expression.

Parker just snorted ironically, her heart beating crazily inside her chest for the fear. She had no idea how much those men knew, but one thing was evident: if they were there, and if their plans hadn't been followed as they had announced, they had managed to catch her red-handed and put her in a trap.

She didn't overbalance, trying again to keep her cover.

"I thought you wouldn't arrive before past two, Lyle…" she stated.

"Change of plans, Miss Parker…" Hasani explained, with a marked non-American accent.

"Angelo and I were taking my brother to get some air" she tried to save the situation "to let him see a different place from the one he had been isolated from the rest of the world against his will…"

Hasani approached her, threateningly "And what should this different place be, Miss Parker? Maybe last Jarod's lair?"  
Parker stared at him, trying to guess how much he knew in reality.

"Let me be the one to take care of my Angel, Hasani…" a voice announced, which came from behind the sweepers, who were all aiming a gun against the two fugitives and the boy.

Miss Parker stared at him, while a teardrop fell from her eyes on her cheeks. Even Angelo seemed astonished and stunned.

"Daddy…" she whispered.

"Did you miss me?" he asked, getting closer and going under the lights, so that the woman who had believed him to be her biological father could finally recognize him.

* * *

**Remember this chapter hasn't been edited yet, so forgive typos and misprints! And, as usual, my poor English :)**

**And please: if you're reading, take some time to review.**


	16. Chapter 16: Hasani

**DISCLAIMER**

It's time for confessions, truth, surprises and revelations.

I like this chapter, is like the end of a journey. A still long journey.

Please, welcome a new character: Mr. Hasani.

I'm sure you'll find him evil and merciless in the most delicious way.

As usual, thanks to **LadyOliviaRoxton** for the reviews ;)

* * *

**Chapter 16: Hasani**

Jarod tested once again the communications and realized that nobody was answering on the other side. Even their telephones were mute, probably because those who had blocked the earphones had worked on the mobile phones too, obliging his friends inside to turn them off.

Ethan was changing the images of the surveillance videos, and he had finally found the one of the SL-19 corridors. Both him and Jarod couldn't believe their eyes.

"Mr. Parker?!" Jarod said, turning slightly the screen towards him.

"And that one is Hasani…they deceived us, Jarod…they lured us into a trap and we fell inside it like a bunch of amateurs…" Ethan commented, realizing that they had been so naïf to believe the Triumvirate and Lyle's words.

Jarod swallowed, worried and stunned.

§

Sydney and Broots, in the meantime, had reached the _family reunion_ space. The two sweepers pushed them next to Miss Parker and Angelo, clearly dividing the two groups. On one side there were them, and poor Angelo who was still holding Michael, who didn't seem to have notice the great confusion that was growing.

On the other side, there were Rains, Lyle and Mr. Parker, who seemed to have never been happier and more satisfied. Hasani, next to him, was smiling, pleased of the way the things have gone.

"They had these…" Raines said, showing Hasani the earphone that Broots had used to communicate with Parker and Jarod.

"Miss Parker?" Hasani asked, reaching out his hand towards her. The woman understood at once that she had to give him her earphone too. Unwillingly, she had to give it away and by doing so she had finally to reveal her true faction. The time had come to drop the mask.

§

"They have been exposed…I must get inside!" Jarod shouted.

"No!" Ethan replied, keeping back his brother and pushing him again on the driver's seat.

Jarod didn't understand anything anymore, his rationality completely gone. He just knew that in that building there were the only persons he had ever cared of in his life. They were all there: the man who had been a father for him whenever he had needed one, the childhood friend and playfellow that he had helped to open up, the goofy technician that had saved his life once. And most of all there was the woman he loved, with a son that he hadn't been able to hold yet and another one coming.

He couldn't let anything happen to Parker, the baby, and Michael. He'd rather die than see someone hurting them.

"Ethan, let go of me!" he shouted again, trying to stand up.

"I can't, big brother!" Ethan answered, keeping to hold him.

"They need us!"

"I swore my sister I'd never let you go inside there, for anything in the world, and I always keep my promises!"

"But not at the expense of her life! Ethan, nobody's going to help them! They have just us!" Jarod growled.

"Let's wait and try to understand what's going on, before!" Ethan answered, shouting as Jarod has never heard him before. Jarod waited a second, then nodded.

§

"Angel, I'm very disappointed…" a very embittered Mr. Parker said.

"Then, that makes two…" she replied, lashing. She had been worried for that man's future for months, but now she realized that he had deceived her once again, he had survived and god knew how, he had ended up to be in the Triumvirate's graces. As always, he was saving his own skin, even in spite of hers.

"Hand over the child." Hasani said.

Parker smiled, then took her weapon and aimed to the man, causing a turmoil among the sweepers, who rose their line of fire on her. Evidently they had received the order not to shoot at her, because nobody even try to pull the trigger. Hasani was smiling.

"Dear Hasani…I hope you didn't come all this way just to throw such a ridiculous request on my face…"

Hasani didn't stop smiling "I've no intention to leave this place without bringing a pretender with me…the baby is too young to take part to high level simulations, but we must wait just a few months…otherwise, there's always an alternative…"

§

Jarod and Ethan were staring at the video, in anxious wait. Ethan had a strange feeling, but he didn't want to say anything to his brother. Jarod, anyway, felt that something terrible was going to happen.

§

"Let's hear Plan B, then…" Parker commented.

"I could forget the boy, if Jarod surrendered spontaneously and came along with us, without resistance."

Sydney opened his mouth, but Miss Parker interrupted him before he could talk.

"Let's move on to Plan C, this one cannot work…our Lab Rat is lost hell-knows-where, and we can't contact him…"

§

For a moment, Jarod believed he was having hallucinations, because something really weird and unlikely was happening: all the sweepers, Mr. Raines, Lyle and Mr. Parker…were laughing.

§

"Miss Parker, we've warned you to be careful when you joke with the Africans…" Lyle commented.

The woman didn't understand where they were going at.

"We've known for a while that you are secretly cooperating with Jarod. We've been following all your last movements and we are perfectly aware of your dirty…how should we call it, affair?"

Parker opened her eyes wide. They had been so careful not to be discovered, how could they know about her and Jarod?

Her father was the one who intervened "Since my arrival in Africa, I've suggested Hasani to put a group of new sweepers at your heels. They had the duty to follow you night and day…and it wasn't difficult for Lyle to stick a special and untraceable bug on the only object you've always kept with you…"

Parker lowered her gaze on her gun, her fabulous _Smith and Wesson _9mm. A satisfied smile appeared on Mr. Parker's face, and so on Raines and Lyle's.

§

"Damn them…they kept us under control since the beginning…" Jarod commented, realizing how stupid they had been.

"You couldn't know, Jarod…" Ethan answered.

§

Sydney approached Miss Parker and made her feel his protective presence.

"So you…know…"

"Everything, yes…" Mr. Parker explained "I had noticed at once the strange way you behaved after we fetched you and Jarod on the Island of Carthis…"

…

_Jarod was dragged away by two sweepers, while Parker was getting out from the parked limousine and reaching her father, unleashing an occasional smile. But Jarod, who thought their conversation wasn't over yet, stopped next to her and made her think once again about their possibility of changing. _

"_That's the wonderful thing about life, Miss Parker."_

_She turned her face towards him and looked at him intensely, as never before in her life._

"_If you change the story, the ending is up to you." he said, and then was dragged away._

…

"I recognized that look. It was the same your mother had when she looked at me…the look of a woman in love. Then I understood that Jarod was managing to do what I had desperately tried to avoid: he was putting you against me…"

§

"Miserable coward!" Jarod commented, full of rage.

Ethan just gave him a look of agreement.

§

"I tried to keep you off that flight, but you got on the plane. And then I realized that it was over. You and Jarod, together, could become an unimaginable danger for The Centre. Oh yes, apparently you still were my beloved daughter, ready to give me all yourself…but I actually knew that it was just a matter of time, before you accepted Jarod's lies as your truth…"

"The only lies I've been told my entire life were yours, _daddy_…" she threw over him. She was proud to have been able to tell him what she wanted to confess him years before, without success. And she didn't imagine how much Jarod was proud of her, in that moment. And so was Sydney, who looked at her, almost in admiration.

A bit shocked by her remark, Mr. Parker suffered the blow and then went on "When Jarod convinced me to read the Prophecies, I understood everything was over. I had to find a way to separate you, you couldn't read them, at any cost…I couldn't allow you to bring to pass what the Scrolls say!"

"Otherwise we would have had all the leverage to end The Centre…just as Mom wanted!" Miss Parker explained.

"Your mother was weak and blind, she couldn't see beyond the children's sufferance…while I understood the huge possibilities for our research."

"What possibilities?" Sydney asked him, feeling that it was the time for him to talk "To kidnap and exploit children prodigies to satisfy your lust for money and power?"

His eyes fell almost involuntary on Raines.

"The only way I had to confirm the status quo…was to make you and Jarod surrender to The Centre without resistance…I couldn't lure him without using a very endearing bait…I understood I had to let things happen just as the Prophecies say. You two had to join forces, to become closer once again…"

Lyle gave Raines am appreciation look, and he sniggered.

"You struggled so much to brake the bond between Jarod and me…that you created _Mind Rain_ to make us forget everything…why did you want us to become closer again?"

§

Jarod wanted to know the answer to that question just as much as her. That thing didn't make any sense. Why had he separate them, afraid of their bond, just to let them come closer again. Why?

§

"We had just a way to convince Jarod to go back with good manners…and it was to put _you_ in danger…but I wasn't sure he wanted to risk his own life for his pursuer, and the Triumvirate wanted more assurances. When they read the Prophecies, they realized that you were connected by something much more special than a simple childhood friendship. They understood that _Mind Rain_ had been successful just on the surface. Suddenly, all your failures during Jarod's pursuit had their explanation…"

"We've always wondered how a professional hunter like you couldn't bring back to The Centre an only man. When we read the Scrolls, everything made sense. There was a basic flaw that you both had in your character and that bonded you as two magnets…" Hasani went on.

Parker grinded her teeth, looking at Sydney.

"Love…" Mr. Parker concluded "Just with your love we could lure Jarod back here…we had a demonstration a couple of years ago, when you got injured at that flight school and Jarod renounced his freedom to stay and trying to save your life, in spite of his life…what a fool!"

§

Jarod clenched his fists, remembering his naïf sensibility towards Miss Parker. And yet, it was true, he had admitted too. He hadn't left her that day, nor in any other moments she had needed him. He had always been with her, aware that, unconsciously, he was still madly in love with her. Ethan felt his brother's emotions, and tried to hold them off, convinced that he wanted to try again to get inside The Centre.

§

Now Parker knew that she had to shuffle the cards, so she tried to lie again.

"And yet…the Scrolls disappeared with you…they were not found, neither by me, nor by Jarod!"

And that wasn't a lie, indeed, maybe an omission of truth. Once again, Hasani and Mr. Parker shared a wicked smile.

"We know very well about Ethan's intromission in the Triumvirate fortress…how do you think he was able to scrape through it on his own?" Mr. Parker explained.

The woman felt her breath getting faster again, but she tried not to show how much tense she actually was.

So Ethan was in danger too, those men knew he was working with them.

"We made sure that your dearest brother discovered the Scrolls and took you a report of them. Mr. Parker even volunteered to act in a little funny play and be seen in a cellar, in which he seemed to be kept as our prisoner." Hasani explained.

"Actually, all this time I've been a guest of a marvelous and traditional African welcome" Mr. Parker concluded.

§

Ethan looked at Jarod, it was his turn to be furious for being manipulated. He didn't understand why the voices hadn't guided him. Yet, he should be used to it: his voices gave him omens, guided him along the way and adverted him of danger. But they didn't warn him against lies and deceit.

§

"Enough of this shilly-shally!" Lyle exclaimed "We have a work to do…"

The man snapped the fingers of the hand that still had its thumb, and for a moment a couple of sweepers got closer to Angelo and tried to take the boy from his arms, but Miss Parker aimed her gun towards them both.

"You must pass over my dead body to take my son away…"

Mr. Parker smiled "Then it's true, you know…You know even how we did it?"

Miss Parker stared at him, full of disgust "I know that you're a monster, and I don't want to become aware of the most sordid details connected to my baby's birth…"

"Brigitte was a great human incubator…oblivious and very lovely…" the man explained, finding Lyle's agreement.

And yet, Parker wanted to know one thing "When did you…take my…"

Mr. Parker grimaced "When you got hospitalized for your ulcer, remember?"

Miss Parker thought about those terrible moments when she had thought she had seen Faith and she survived by the skin of her teeth and when, a few days later, she had discovered that Jarod had been through a very similar situation when his plane had crashed on a mountain and he had risk the frostbite.

And so her father had taken advantage of her physical condition to steel a part of her, the most intimate part for a woman: her eggs. Nothing easier, with her sidelined and in precarious condition. In the chaos of all the scars after the endured operations, she hadn't even noticed something like that…

Lyle took his sister's moment of dejection to run towards her and steel her weapon.

§

Jarod couldn't stand it anymore. He stood up and ran outside the car. Ethan let the laptop and ran after his brother, trying to stop him.

"Jarod, that's what they want!" he screamed.

"Ethan, I know what you promised, but I'm not staying here to watch them die!" he replied in answer.

§

While Angelo rebelled and Miss Parker tried to wriggle between her brother's arms, screaming in agony, two sweepers took Michael and delivered him to Mr. Parker.

"Here he is…my boy!" he said.

"He…is not…yours!" Miss Parker lashed out, while Michael started to cry.

§

"Ethan, let go of me!" Jarod screamed, trying to free himself from his brother's grip.

"I'm sorry, big brother, but I can't do it!" he replied. Then he did something he thought he'd never done: he punched him and knock him down, paralyzing him temporarily.

§

"Angel, you amaze me…I've never thought you were the maternal type, not after your carpenter's death…"

"You, damn…bastard!" she snapped, in attempt to wriggle from Lyle's clutches.

"Miss Parker…calm down…" Sydney whispered, looking inside her eyes and searching for her gaze to cheer her up "Think about your daughter…"

Lyle opened his eyes wide and loosened the grip, allowing his sister to throw herself into Sydney's arms, tearful. The general chaos shut up for a few seconds, until Hasani asked "Daughter?"

§

"Brother, forgive me…" Ethan said, tending an arm towards Jarod "but you can't go there, you'd be captured and then you'd be of no use to anyone…"

"Ethan…" Jarod whispered, stunned and exhausted by his same rage "I can't loose them…"

Ethan got back to the car and took a look at the computer, trying to realize what was going on.

§

Sydney understood at once he had made a mistake. The questioning looks of their "enemies" did not leave any doubt: the bug inside Parker's gun had revealed many things, but not that once. At The Centre, they didn't know that she was pregnant…

She sighed against the chest of the man she would have loved to define her father.

"Daughter?!" Hasani asked again.

"What daughter?" Lyle asked, taking a questioning look at Raines.

Angelo was terrorized and his eyes ran from one side of the room to the other, without hope to stop.

Broots, instead, was sweated and aware of the enormous risks that Miss Parker was taking.

"But then…you're telling me that another grand-son is coming…a girl this time?!" Mr. Parker asked, faking a paternal joy "Congratulations, Angel…this is…a very pleasant surprise!"

Hasani seemed as pleased as him and was staring at the woman as if she was a precious piece of jewelry, now. Mr. Parker put Michael in Raines' arms, and he tried to stop his crying, with no avail.

"Well, this really is a surprise…we had thought to get rid of you once we had captured Jarod, but…this changes everything!" Hasani commented, approaching the woman who was looking at him full of scorn.

Sydney held Miss Parker, trying to make her understand how much sorry he was for slipping off such an information. He looked at the psychiatrist with affection, to let him realize that she really needed him, in that moment.

"Tell me, Miss Parker…" Hasani said "Are you ready to evaluate again the request I've made before?"

"W-what request?" she asked, turning around again towards the African.

"It's simple…you're luring Jarod here, and he's certainly ready to come and rescue the woman he loves and his children…and in exchange we're going to set this…beautiful boy free…"

"How did you say you named him? Michael?" Raines asked, looking at the boy between his arms.

Mr. Parker was observing the scene in amusement, Sydney, on the contrary, was disgusted.

§

"My god, what can we do?" Ethan asked himself. But when he turned around, his brother had disappeared.

"Jarod?! Jarod!" he screamed, noticing that he's brother had by then entered the tunnel that took inside The Centre.

"Jarod!" he shouted again, but without having an answer back. Ethan put his hands through his hair, then he looked back at the video on his computer. He couldn't wait no longer, Jarod had gone and he hadn't kept the promise made to his sister. But his voices were suggesting another alternative, now. For the first time in many years, he could hear them clearly and distinctly, as if they were guiding him at unison in just one direction. The path to follow was clearly defined: after he had kept one last secret to his siblings for a very long time, it was time to help them, and he could do it just with the truth.

"I must help them…but I can't do it alone!" he said to himself, and to the voices, then he shut the laptop eagerly and looked for his mobile "I must call them…Jarod and Parker need them!"

Ethan typed frantically the number on the phone.

"Come on, come on…answer me, damn-it!" he screamed.

A few moments later, from the other side somebody answered the call "It's Ethan! The situation has just precipitated, we need your help…yes…I think it's the moment for them to reappear…I know…I know it's dangerous, I don't need you to remind me…then don't waste time, dad!"

§

"Then, what are you going to do Miss Parker? It's a simple offer…you'd rather save Jarod, whose life has always been hanging by a thread…or your son's one, to let him grow free…far from here…"

Parker wanted to kill Hasani. Hadn't she got a life to protect inside of herself, she would have pounce against him to suffocate him. Her gaze fell on Raines, who seemed satisfied as never before in his entire life. And finally she realized she was living the dream that had frightened her for many nights. She was right in front of that choice that couldn't receive an answer. She had to choose between Jarod's and their son's life. And if the nightmare was real, she knew what would have happened in the end. Once again, that wasn't a dream, but a real premonition…

"So, what are you going to do, Miss Parker?" Raines' voice asked, while Michael was finally not crying anymore. Sydney and Broots were hanging on her words, as much as all the others.

"Were you talking about me?!" a voice at their backs asked. An unmistakable voice. With a tone that was deep, clear and dark at the same time. The voice they all knew too much well.

"Jarod! No!" Miss Parker shouted.

"Take him!" Hasani growled, willing more than ever to make the pretender pay for his brother's death.

Two sweepers were at once around Jarod and took him from his arms, he didn't make any resistance.

"I'm here, Raines…I surrendered to you, as you've asked me to do…you didn't even need to wait, am I right?" Jarod's voice betrayed his impatience, his tension. Parker knew him well, and she had never heard Jarod express himself in such a way. His voice was fast and worried. He was frightened.

Raines and Mr. Parker were looking at him as a smoker looks at a cigarette after a couple of days he has quitted smoking: with immense desire.

"Now…maintain your agreement and let go the boy!" Jarod shouted, without wriggling.

Hasani looked at Mr. Parker and then they both smiled malevolently.

"Let – go – of – him, I said…" he repeated, by marking the words slowly and starting to squeeze his fists.

Miss Parker couldn't utter a word. Her dream was becoming real. Rather, her worst nightmare.

"And why should we keep just one pretender…when we can have two? We just need to wait that his huge qualities show, as in his father…and his mother…" Lyle explained, with a mocking grin.

Then Jarod started to wriggle "Lyle, bastard! I'm here, you proposed an agreement! Let them go, all of them! I'm staying, I'm doing whatever you want, you won't have to oblige me to!" Jarod lashed out, moving more and more between the sweepers arms.

"You above all should know…that The Centre never respects its agreements…" Hasani explained, approaching him threateningly. Then he punched him in his stomach, making him bend over in pain.

"This is for Adama…" he whispered, so that only Jarod could hear him. Above all things that Jarod hated, to be accused of something he hadn't done was the one that drove him crazy the most. In that moment, anyway, the pain in his chest was piercing and he hadn't got any strength to answer him to retort.

He was dragged closer to Miss Parker and the others, and he was left on the floor right next to the woman.

"J-jarod…I'm s-sorry…" she whispered between a sob and the other.

He looked up at her with immense love, trying to pass her the less strength he still had "You must be strong…for Michael…and _Clio_…"

Parker looked at him questioningly.

"I know we haven't talked about it yet, but…our brother suggested me this name and I liked it so much that I started to think about our daughter as _Clio_…you're not upset, are you?"

Miss Parker tried to smile "Clio is perfect…" she whispered, while the sweepers got away from Jarod. The woman bended, putting her hand on his face, tenderly.

"But what a beautiful picture! Now the happy family is reunited!" Lyle commented sarcastically.

Miss Parker threw him a look full of hate, without removing the hand from the face of the man that she loved.

She had never despised her family name as much as that then.

"It'll be nice to see your children growing up inside here, Jarod…they'll have the great honor to become the most promising experiment in the whole Centre history!" Hasani explained.

Leaving Jarod on the floor, Miss Parker stood up and moved towards the man, with the sweepers who were aiming again the weapons against her.

"You'll have…never…our children." she whispered, threateningly.

Raines was still keeping Michael in his arms, while Mr. Parker was looking at his daughter almost radiant "Not even with your mother it was as much easy to obtain Ethan… we need to inseminate her, while you… did it all on your own, Angel…thank you!"

Miss Parker didn't stand it a second more and she wildly slapped the man she once used to call father. He couldn't cushion the blow and took a hand to his face, embittered and confused. She looked at him with hate.

Angelo swallowed and felt skin-deep the hate his friend felt for that evil man believed to be her father for a very long time. Jarod, by now, could breathe again and stood up, with Sydney's help.

"Talking about Ethan…if Jarod was near, he was there too…we can't let him escape, we won't have such an occasion to find him anymore!" Raines interrupted.

"What, Raines, two pretenders aren't enough?" Jarod asked, his lashing sound fully recovered.

"Jarod…" the doctor replied, looking at the boy with affection "Why be content with what you have, when you can have it all?"

Sydney took that moment to try to regain a bit of authority "If Jarod is going back to his simulations, I want to be his tutor again!"

Hasani and Mr. Parker laughed again "I didn't know you were a comedian, Sydney…"

Jarod looked at his mentor with terror, then he gave Broots a look. In that moment he realized that among all the persons who were there, they were the only ones expandable. He had to find a way to save them, and at once.

"Sydney…we know that large part of the failures you've been through all these years during your runs across the States were due to Miss Parker…in particular, I'll never forget how she let Jarod escape when they were stuck together in Bahia Grande…what did the mission report say?" Hasani interrupted himself a moment, to emphasize the waiting "Oh, yes, now I remember…you realized your gun was unloaded when you tried to shoot at the helicopter that Jarod was using to escape…"

Jarod took a step towards Miss Parker, to let her feel his reassuring presence. They knew how much it had meant for both to be stuck together in that hell. Parker hadn't had the courage to stop Jarod while he was escaping with Simone.

"If I'm not mistaken" Hasani went on "The same things happened almost an year later, when Jarod managed to escape with Davey Simpkins…Gar, the sweeper, swore that your gun might have jammed, because only a blind man might have missed such a simple target…"

…

_Miss Parker was dragging Jarod from the limousine to the plane that would take them back to The Centre. He had never been much furious towards her, ever. Once again, she was surrendering to her father's will, instead of following her instinct. _

"_It doesn't have to be this way."_

_She ignored him, but his words were hitting the mark._

"_New blood for the Centre. Your mother would be so proud of you!"_

"_Save it!" she lashed out, at the limit of endurance, keeping walking behind him. Jarod turned around suddenly and took off his sunglasses, so that she could see his face._

"_I saw your face when Angelo gave up his last treatment for Davey!"_

"_Keep moving!" she replied, pushing him eagerly and silencing him._

"_Let's go!" Gar shouted. _

_In that moment, Angelo bended and started to grumble, faking sufferance. _

"_Angelo….Are you all right?" Jarod asked him._

"_What's wrong with him?" Miss Parker asked, very worried for him._

_Then Angelo had taken an hidden syringe and used it to hit Willie, so starting a scuffle that allowed Jarod to run away with Davey._

"_Get off of me! Jarod! Jarod!" Parker shouted, running after him not so convinced, with a gun aimed towards him._

"_Save Davey!" Angelo pleaded her._

_She shook her head slowly, his words were hitting the mark "Angelo…"_

_In spite of this, she stopped and didn't do anything. Jarod started the engine of the little plane and lifted off, bringing Davey far from that place and leaving Miss Parker with nothing. The woman put her gun down and actually let him escape. Even if she pretended that this annoyed her, she was sure she had taken the right decision to save the boy._

"_Guess your gun jammed huh?" Gar answered her, almost teasing her._

_She sighed and bended her head backwards, savoring that moment of peace, but also of awareness that Jarod's escape also meant she had to start to chase him, again. _

"_Davey free." Angelo told her, glad. _

"_Miss Parker still in hell." she replied._

…

Miss Parker smiled in answer, she was glad she could answer sincerely, seen that the comedy was over, now.

"Consider it my moment of glory…the awareness to have spared sufferance at least one of those boys helps me to sleep better at night…"

The woman gave Jarod a knowing glance, and he answered with one full of pride for her. He had always known she had been glad to watch him escape, that day. He had always known, even if she had never confessed it. He had known even when she had shot at him a few hours later, when Fenigor had revealed them that Major Charles had killed Catherine.

"Anyway, that wasn't my point, Miss Parker" Hasani continued, stopping that moment of tender interchanges between them.

"I was trying to explain Dr. Sydney, here, that even if the Triumvirate has always known about the reality of your bond with Jarod, which prevented you to chase him objectively and without being involved…we even knew that there was another weak gear in the mechanism."

And here everybody's look moved on Sydney.

"Sydney has anything to do with me escapes!" Jarod tried to lie "He has always tried to lure me towards The Centre with his words of discouragement, putting me against the cruel reality of the world in which I was!"

Hasani smiled again "Your attempt to protect your mentor is praiseworthy Jarod, but futile. We know the good doctor had done nothing else but help you staying away from here, all these years."

Jarod sighed, and so did Miss Parker. And how could they answer, otherwise? That was the truth. Sydney had developed a huge sense of guilt since Jarod had escaped, even because the pretender had put him in front of his crimes. And this had changed him, deeply, this had made him become the man he should be. Should Sydney have been thirty years before the man he was now, he would have certainly helped Jarod to escape a long time before. And they both knew.

Jarod looked at the sweeper who stood next to him. It seemed that he was lowering his attention, his weapon was almost aiming at the floor. He had to take it, at any cost.

"Jarod has never needed to be helped…he has always been a step ahead of us!" Broots intervened, he had been silent for too long "Even when we got closer, when we thought we had caught him…he escaped right under our noses with some _coup de theatre_!"

"You're right, Mr. Broots" Hasani replied "Our pretender has always had some hidden qualities as a wizard…but, alas, even the best wizards must leave the stage, sooner or later!"

Jarod made another silent step towards the sweeper. If only they could distract Hasani for a few seconds yet. Angelo looked at his friend with one eye, guessing what he was trying to do. He kept moving his gaze from Jarod to the sweeper, without nobody else noticing this.

"What do you want to do with us?" Broots asked, worried for his daughter's safety.

"You were very useful, Broots" Lyle intervened "If we kept a stable lead on Jarod's movements, it's most of all because of you!"

Lyle would be glad to see all those persons hurt, but he had to admit that Broots had showed his usefulness, after all. He could be spared. And then, he was too coward to do anything against The Centre, he was too much afraid for his daughter's life.

"The same cannot be said about you, Sydney dearest" Raines went on "Your complicity in this affair was the last straw. If Willie had done his duty, you wouldn't even be here…"

Jarod squeezed his fists and waited another moment, he needed just a few other seconds…

Parker chose that moment to do the wrong thing: she put herself in front of Sydney and Broots and covered them with all her high shape.

"You won't lift a finger on them." she stated. Her expression was worth a thousand words.

§

In that moment, Michael moved between Raines' arms and turned around, called back from numbness after hearing his mother's voice.

"Mom…where they take me?" he asked.

Jarod moved as fast as he could. Making advantage of the moment of distraction due to Michael's comment, he pounced against the sweeper and stole his gun from his hands, coming back to his previous position to be clearly seen from all his enemies. Parker smiled for his move, sure that he would threaten Hasani, but she was wrong. As soon as he noticed Jarod's arm bringing the gun to his temple, Parker immediately stopped smiling.

"Jarod, what the hell are you doing?" she shouted, approaching him. A gesture from Jarod's free hand was enough to silence her and made her understand that he was serious.

Hasani giggled, while Mr. Parker seemed worried.

"Everything's happening here is just a huge waste of time" the African stated.

"You're absolutely right" Jarod replied "That's why I'm going to tell you this in a simple and painless way: Broots, Parker, Angelo and Sydney mustn't be touched. I want your word that if I work with you again for your sims, you let them go, together with my son."

Mr. Parker looked at Lyle and then at Raines. This eventuality hadn't been expected.

"Jarod, put that gun down!" Miss Parker pleaded him.

"I'm waiting for an answer, Hasani…" he continued, ignoring her.

Jarod knew that was the only way to save them all. He just had to understand how much The Centre cared for his own safety. He was ready to pull the trigger. If he shot, he would deprive them of their most aspired pretender, forever. He didn't care to die, in that moment: he just wanted to make sure that they would spare the lives of the people he loved.

"You'd never do that…" Lyle stated, for he knew Jarod very much.

He clenched his teeth and loaded the gun "Test me…please…"

Lyle changed his expression and shut up. Maybe, after all, Jarod would get through this, this time.

"Jarod, please…" Parker whispered.

He was living a considerable inner conflict. Parker's voice, so feeble and careful, made him realize that he didn't have the courage to leave her. But at the same time, it was just for her weakness that he wanted to save her. She had to live, to think about their children. And if he had to take his own life to assure her this future, he would do it.

"You have five seconds, after which I'm pulling the trigger…I think the remains of my ingenius-pretender-brain will remain on this sublevel walls for a very long time…"

Sydney cringed at the thought, and so did Miss Parker.

Hasani burst into a nervous laughter which took Jarod unprepared, but didn't move him.

"You've got guts Jarod, I must admit it…sacrifice your own life to…" he interrupted himself for a moment "…save your pursuers'…" so said, he started to laugh louder and louder, and with him many of the present persons.

Jarod didn't want to laugh at all, anyway.

Hasani calmed down and stifled his laughter, then looked at him intensely.

"The boy will soon be ready to take your place…"

"But it'll take years to train him, while I'm already a complete pretender, ready to serve you without any condition…if you free the present persons …and my son."

"Mmm…" Hasani had almost a crazy look, by now. He approached one of his sweepers and took his gun "I've got a better idea."

So said, he shot straight to Sydney's left leg, and he collapsed to the ground, starting to hold it between his hands, struggling in a terrible pain. The blood started to flow copiously from his wound.

"No!" Jarod shouted, bending slightly towards him, but Hasani preceded him and aimed the gun towards him.

"Your game ends now, Jarod, or I'm starting to hit every useful arm of your friends until you put the gun down…"

So said, Hasani shot against Miss Parker's left shoulder, and she collapsed to the floor, to be approached by Angelo, who started to mumble in pain because he felt the same pain his friends were.

"You damn bastard!" Jarod snapped at him.

Hasani aimed his gun on Broots, but Jarod understood that his crazy blackmail attempt was over. Sydney was loosing much blood and shouldn't he receive immediate medical care, he'd risk his life.

"Jarod…please…" Miss Parker whispered, holding her shoulder.

"Jarod…he's loosing much blood, he needs a doctor, now!" Broots explained, bended over his wounded colleague.

Jarod gave Hasani a questioning look. He noticed doubt in his eyes and answered "He's receiving care at once! We don't want your beloved mentor to risk his life before being your wet nurse again, do we?"

Jarod put his gun down, disgusted, and threw it to the sweeper he had taken it from, then bended over Sydney and started to check his wound. The bullet had severed an artery.

"How are you, Parker?" he asked the woman.

She sighed "Have you a backup question?" Jarod admired her sarcasm in that dead-end situation "It seems a slight shot, the bullet went in and then out…" she stated. In fact, Parker realized at once that hers was a minor wound, than Sydney's one.

"Hey, Sydney…how are you?" Jarod asked the man, trying to keep him awake.

"It s-seems that in the end…t-they manage to knock me d-down…" he answered.

Parker approached them both, then took Sydney's hand and squeezed it between hers, bringing it to her mouth, while Jarod ripped an edge of his shirt and tightened it hard around the man's thigh.

"He must go to the infirmary, now!" he stated, looking at Hasani with hate.

"Grandpa…" Michael said, pointing at the man staying on the floor, his eyes bright in terror. Jarod realized how intelligent that boy was. Not only he had understood that Sydney was hurt and risked his life, but he had even realized how much he meant to both his parents. He had realized that he was like a father, to them.

"It's all right, kiddo…" Parker stated.

"Sydney's going to be okay, Michael. It's just a…scratch." Jarod answered, lying to himself and thinking that it was the first time ever he spoke to his son.

"It's time to go…" Lyle said, noticing Hasani's apprehension.

"Yes, it is, Africa's waiting for us…" Hasani replied.

Jarod lifted his gaze, worried "You never mentioned Africa…"

"You never asked! I think your son will like Africa…it's hot and sunny, not like the place he has always lived…" Hasani commented.

"Don't want!" Michael screamed, as if he had understood everything.

So this was their plan. They'd take Michael to Africa, far from his parents. Parker, unwillingly, squeezed harder Sydney's hand. The man was loosing consciousness, he had lost too much blood, most of all for a man of his age.

_Hold on, we're coming_, Parker heard the voices inside her.

"It's time to go." Hasani concluded.

"Nobody's going anywhere!" a voice behind them all shouted.

When all the men turned around, no one could believe his eyes. In front of them there were the only persons nobody would ever expect to see right there. Major Charles was the one who had spoken, and he had a shotgun in his hands, aiming straight to Mr. Parker's shoulders.

Next to him, his newfound sons, Ethan and Jesse. Raines' eyes almost shimmered in wonder when he realized his most successful experiments were once again in front of him after all that time. He had to rethink about it when he noticed that they both were aiming a gun against him.

But there weren't just the men from Jarod's family.

Two other figures were drawing all the attention. They were older and visibly shattered by all the years spent in jeopardy, running together. But there they were.

Margaret… and Catherine.

* * *

**Remember this chapter hasn't been edited yet, so forgive typos and misprints! And, as usual, my poor English :)**

**And please: if you're reading, take some time to review.**


	17. Chapter 17: Here comes the Cavalry

**DISCLAIMER**

Ok, so Catherine came back and: surprise, she's still alive!

Now we have a thousand questions, but the most important one is: How?

And if you were wondering: 'Where the hell is Agent Zane?', well, now you'll be told. Enjoy the chapter!

As usual, thanks to **LadyOliviaRoxton** for the reviews ;)

* * *

**Chapter 17: Here Comes the Cavalry**

Mr. Parker almost fainted when he saw his wife alive and well in front of him. Of course, he knew she was alive, but he'd never hoped he would see her again for real. He was sure she would rather die than going back to The Centre. Hasani, on the other hand, couldn't believe the luck he had: that day was becoming the more amazing of his life, because the persons he had been hunting for all his life were arriving one at a time in front of him.

Sydney had noticed the changes on the faces inside that room, even if he was starting to feel less and less awaken. And yet, when he saw Miss Parker and Jarod's terror gaze turning into two innocent and non-rational smiles, he understood that just one thing could have caused such a miracle in that very moment. The sight of their mothers.

"Mum…" Jarod whispered, without stopping to watch her "Catherine!" he screamed, standing up.

"Mom!" Miss Parker screamed, trying to move towards the woman, who was smiling and hardly keeping her tears.

"Jarod…Sweetheart…" Catherine answered to them.

They would have wanted to run towards them, but the guns that the men were mutually aiming against each other dissuaded them from doing it.

Raines started to smile "I knew my plan to lure you here would be successful, Catherine…"

The woman smiled "It's a pity that I wasn't the only one dragged here, William…"

In that moment they all heard a huge roar coming from the superior sublevels and for a couple of seconds the light went off, letting them in the darkness. Then The Centre general alarm started to sound.

Angelo smiled, while he squeezed Sydney's hand again.

"Others…arrived…" he whispered. The man became clear headed once again in time to ask "Who?"

"Zane…" Jarod whispered, his previous panicked face turned into a victorious grin.

"What the hell is going on, Parker?" Hasani screamed, addressing himself t the man to whom Major Charles was aiming his shotgun.

"It seems that we reached the terminal, gentlemen" Jarod stated, giving an encouragement look to his brother, who had guessed that the authorities have finally arrived into action.

* * *

"I want you to split into little groups, this place is full of sublevels. Every group must sift and check every single room, every hole, every cellar, even every air duct that you're going to find in the subterranean labyrinths of this building!"

Zane was giving orders to the groups of agents that were entering the building with her. There were almost hundred. They came from every known government agency: NSA, FBI, CIA… Jarod had contacts almost everywhere and they all wanted to bustle to help an old friend that so much had done to solve mysteries, unresolved cases, kidnaps without ransoms, homicides without murderers. Zane didn't have to struggle to convince her bosses to let her obtain the necessary authorizations to organize the blitz that would destroy The Centre for good.

"Somewhere, down there, you'll also find Agent Jarod Morse and his family. Obviously we don't want anything bad to happen to them, are we clear?" she asked her subjects.

"Yes, Agent Zane!" different answers arrived to her in choir.

"We don't want dead. The majority of the people working here do not know anything about the naughty trades deriving from this place. Take many prisoners and don't exit the building if you haven't find these three men at least…"

So said, she raised three pictures that portrayed Jarod's lifelong enemies.

"This is Mr. Parker, he's always been the chairman of this place, which had been left in heritage to him by his ancestors. Needless to say that the one who's bringing me his head – obviously still attached to his neck – will have an instant promotion!"

A few laughs arose, while the group was walking towards the entering of the sublevels, after they had passed triumphantly through the offices upper area. Everywhere worried secretaries and unaware employers were standing up and being dragged away, terrorized and afraid for their own destiny.

"This one is his son, they called him Mr. Lyle, but for his friends he's just Bobby. He's guilty of many crimes and he was cleared up from different murderer accusations. Needless to say, that after today they're all going to be reopened!"

Once again, Zane's men laughed, while reaching the elevators and the stairs.

"This is Dr. William Raines, The Centre Mengele" Zane continued "He ruined dozens of children's lives, he guided all the experiments conducted by this place. He destroyed Agent Morse's life first-person."

Zane interrupted her speech for a second, weighing her last words.

"Our superiors ask us to catch Dr. Raines alive, they want to make him the major responsible of everything that ever happened in this place. The official order is to catch him alive, at any cost."

At this revelation, many agents that had worked with Jarod and saw him as a hero for the way he had saved the Swedish ambassador's life at the Opera House a few months before, started to mumble in dissent.

"Needless to say that should you be forced to choose between his life and Dr. Raines' one, you'd have carte blanche to walk over his dead body!"

The agents shouted in joy, approving every word of Zane's speech.

"Good hunting, gentlemen!" she concluded.

* * *

"What the hell is going on up there?" Lyle shouted.

"Well, Lyle dearest…you should know that in spite of your attempts to put us against one another in the last…how many years have passed, Parker?" Jarod asked, taking a look at the woman next to him.

"Thirty-nine, Jarod. If you count from when they kidnapped you, obviously…"

"Obviously…so, after thirty-nine years…today The Centre era is coming to an end…"

Suddenly, little explosions roars and people shouting could be heard by the upper floors.

Jarod stared at Hasani look of terror "Oh, Hasani dearest…you should have imagined, seen that you read the Prophecies…isn't it because of those Scrolls, if The Centre existed, in the first place?"

Margaret and Catherine observed their children in ecstasy. Jarod was really smart and brave, he didn't seem to have flaws. Parker, instead, was a fierce and stubborn woman, but inside she kept an hidden sweetness, that she showed just to a few. Catherine could see it in the way she had just gone to squeeze Sydney's hand.

"If that he says it's true, we have no much time, we must leave…" Lyle whispered to his father's ear.

Ethan approached him and put the gun on his chest "No one of you is going to move a muscle…not until we have what we came for…"

"And what is it?"

"Truth." Jarod concluded.

* * *

"Sublevel 1 clear!"

"Sublevel 2 clear!"

"Sublevel 3, one loss…"

Zane was listening to the groups-leaders announcing the "hunting" progress. Even if she was very nervous, she didn't show.

_Jarod, I hope you know what you're doing_, she thought.

* * *

"I'd want to know one thing" Jarod intervened "How did you find us?" Jarod asked, looking at their mothers with desire.

"It was Ethan…" Catherine explained, looking at her son with huge affection.

"Remember when I disappeared? Well, not only I looked for information about the Triumvirate, but I also found Mum…the voices guided me towards her…"

"Why didn't you tell me?" Miss Parker asked, almost crying.

"I've asked him not to, Sweetie…we needed to stay hidden, we couldn't risk that they found us before you two were ready…" Catherine explained.

"Ready for what?" Jarod questioned.

"To fulfill your destiny, as the Scrolls said you would do!"

"The Scrolls were followed to the letter just because of our intervention!" Mr. Parker replied, now detesting his wife's presence.

Miss Parker took that moment to approach Raines, she wanted to take Michael, but a couple of sweepers aimed their guns on her and obliged her to desist.

"It seems that we're in an impasse ." she commented, sarcastically.

"Where have you been all this time?" Jarod asked.

"Hidden in a safe place…just Ethan and your father knew where we were…"

Jarod took a surprised look at Major Charles, who just answered "Sorry, son…your mother's orders, I've never been able to disobey her…"

"Like father, like son" Parker stated. Jarod made one of his approval grins for the good taste the woman always showed with her remarks.

"Who sent us your picture outside the Alley Sports Bar? It was you?" Jarod asked.

"Actually, that was me." Raines said, his voice stunted and hoarse.

"You?" Parker shouted, incredulous.

"At the moment, that seemed the best move to lure Catherine and Margaret…I knew that picture had to mean something for you, but I couldn't imagine that Jarod would start a crusade that would bring him on the Island of Carthis…"

"Raines, this was the only good thing you've done in all these years…" Jarod replied.

"So you also sent him the one taken outside the New Haven's manor?"

Raines nodded "I wanted to be ahead of times, I wanted Jarod to find Catherine and Margaret to lead us towards them…I couldn't imagine…that this would lead them here…"

Raines had a different gaze in his eyes. It seemed that he was almost…sorry for that about-turn of the events that had put him in such an unfair situation. After so many years he had reached his own purpose, but he would never benefit behind bars.

Miss Parker wanted to pose a thousand questions to her mother, but one in particular needed an answer.

"Mum…how could you…"

"Survive?" she continued for the woman. Miss Parked nodded.

"Raines had taken me to that house to give birth, Ethan was his biggest secret and his biggest jewel…I trusted you, I couldn't imagine that you'd betray me!" she lashed out against him.

"If I helped you faking your own death, it was just because I wanted Ethan!"

At these words, the interested man changed his target and aimed his gun towards Raines, leaving Jesse the duty to keep Lyle gun pointed.

"And you had me…for too many years…if it wasn't for Jarod, by now I'd still be under your control!" the boy growled. Jarod had never seen him so furious before.

"William shot me in the chest, but fortunately that wasn't a deadly wound…"

"But…the videos…" Parker stated.

"In the surveillance videos you didn't see me when he shot, did you?"

Parker remembered all at once that her mother was right: she had assumed that Raines had executed her, that he had shot her in the head, but he didn't.

"It was my biggest mistake, to believe you died that day…" Raines explained.

"Fortunately, Margaret had infiltrated among the nurses Raines had called to help me deliver. He couldn't know, but she was there to save me…as soon as she had the occasion, she took me out of there, and by doing so she saved my life."

"Raines found out about her disappearance just one hour after the birth, when he finally got away from Ethan, after concluding all the tests on his newborn pretender…" Margaret continued.

"This is a Centre story that I like" Jarod stated, smiling.

A noise came from behind and caught his attention: Sydney was starting to get paler. Jarod felt guilty because he had left him in that condition, but his mother appearance had distracted him considerably.

"J-jarod…"

"Sydney…bad…" Angelo explained.

"He's still loosing blood!" Broots said, worried as never before.

"D-don't t-think about me, go away!" Sydney told him.

Jarod looked at him with affection and stroke his face, finding it was cold and white. In that moment, Major Charles felt a terrible twinge that could be named just as envy. Jarod would never love him as he loved that man, and he knew it perfectly, he had known since the moment he had spoken with Sydney that day he had taken him to the flight school to rejoin with Jesse.

"It's going to be okay, Sydney…" Miss Parker whispered to him, bended once again next to him.

"Fine, we're over with explanation time…I need to take Sydney to the hospital!" Jarod concluded, standing up again.

Hasani aimed the gun against him once again "You're not going anywhere…now we're going to leave, and you come along with us, together with your son…and I tell you more, we're taking also your little brothers with us!"

Jarod gritted his teeth "If you hadn't noticed, in less than five minutes a flood of government agents will rush inside here and arrest you all…I don't think you'll even have the time to stamp your ticket…"

Lyle smiled "Angelo taught us that The Centre air ducts always lead somewhere, Jarod…you escaped many times by using those holes, didn't you?"

"I'm never coming with you…"

Parker smelled trouble.

"I thought we already went through this…" Hasani spoke again, aiming his gun threateningly towards Miss Parker.

Jarod changed tactics and put himself in front of her, shielding her with his own figure.

"Now I'll confess something to you, Hasani…I didn't kill your brother, Adama. That was one of the many lies they told you all these years…" Jarod caught an uncertainty motion in the African's gaze, then he continued "I'm not a revengeful man, but if you touch her…I swear I'm going to kill you." he promised.

* * *

"Sublevel 17 clear!"

"Sublevel 18 clear!" another agent screamed.

Zane smiled. It wouldn't be long, Jarod had said the sublevels were 27. But they hadn't found him yet…

* * *

Noises became more insistent and close, the agents should be really at their gates.

"You don't have another choice, Hasani…deliver Michael to me and surrender, if you want to save yourselves…" Jarod said.

Ethan made some pressure against Raines with his weapon, so the man decided to accept and let Michael go, and in a few seconds the boy was in his grandmother Catherine's hands. Parker could breathe easily again, now.

"Hasani…we can still survive" Lyle stated, and he was really starting to be afraid of ending up in a prison, this time.

"Leave them here…let's go…we might rethink a new strategy once we're back to Africa!" Mr. Parker gave him a hand.

Noticing their cowardice, this time it was Jarod's turn to say "Like father, like son…"

"But he's not his father" Parker interrupted him "Not that his real father is much better…" she growled.

"What a pity it's also yours…" Jarod replied, sarcastically.

"I've had enough of you both!" Raines snapped at them.

* * *

"Agent Zane, we've got some movement here…we have a glimpse on a group of armed guards, some men and women seem to be discussing. There are two groups of people, lined up the ones against the others…and with them…there is also Agent Morse!" the agent shouted in the earphone.

"Nice work, Braff! All units, we need cover at Sublevel 19, we found Morse!"

"It's not just him, Agent Zane…there are also the three men you showed us before. They're all here, together with a group of Africans…just as you had foreseen! How could you know?" Agent Braff asked her.

_How did you know, Jarod_, Zane wondered. Then she headed too towards Sublevel 19.

* * *

"Enough talking!" Hasani silenced them.

Jarod and Miss Parker shared a knowing glance. They both were thinking the same thing: they were using words as a weapon against those men. Words had always been the pin around which their existence rotated. With words, Jarod had convinced her to discover the truth about her mother, with words Parker had offended him in every possible and imaginable way, with words Jarod had made her realize that her father was covering her with lies since years. With words they had been able to reconcile, find each other, fall in love again. And now words would be once again what would pull them out from that dangerous and complicated situation.

Jarod understood he had found Hasani's weakest point. It was the same Achille's heel that he always had: the memory of his brother Kyle, killed by Lyle's hands, was one of the most painful he had to live with.

Maybe the same thing was true even for that crazy man standing right in front of him.

"You want the truth? I'm giving it to you, once and for all. It was Raines and Lyle who killed your brother on that plane! And it was Mr. Parker who organized the escape plan in every detail, Adama's death had been decided since the beginning!"

"No, you were the one who shot him!" Hasani snapped at him, full of rage, but more and more tense.

Ethan felt that Jarod was hitting the mark: Hasani was giving up.

"I was there…it was Raines who shot your brother…" Miss Parker whispered, approaching again Hasani "He killed him mercilessly, and then he made you believe that it was Jarod who had done it in a fit of madness…"

Lyle started to taste his weapon gently. He gave Raines a look, realizing that the situation was getting worse even for them. Hasani's sweepers, feeling the tension changing, starting to lower their weapons and aiming them against the three men of The Centre.

"No…I've been said that…"

"You're an intelligent man, Hasani…think about it…Adama was hindering The Centre plans, so he had to be killed. Maybe they would have reserved you the same treatment!" Jarod marked up.

* * *

Zane reached her men who had just lurked, waiting for her order.

"What's going on in there?"

"It seems that they're still talking, Agent Zane!"

"Then wait, there are a baby and women…I don't want to go home with injured people, are we clear?" Zane said in the earphone.

"We're waiting for your order, Agent Zane!"

_Come on Jarod, give me a sign, because I don't know what to do…_

* * *

"Don't listen to them, Hasani…I've worked with you in the last months I've spent in Africa, remember? I was the one to bring you the Prophecies!" Mr. Parker intervened, smiling to encourage him.

Miss Parker giggled "You really are unbelievable, _daddy_…"

"You haven't changed, James." Catherine said.

Everybody turned towards her, whose presence was still a miracle that nobody could believe to.

"You've ruined Jarod's life, mine, our daughter's…you didn't stop lying…just as you did when you swore that the insemination you were going to subject me to was with your semen, while you actually used…your brother's…" she concluded, glancing at Raines.

"When did you find out?" Mr. Parker asked.

"The night of Thanksgiving of '69…"

Miss Parker and Jarod shared a quick look, both surprised by that revelation.

"That's why Raines…" she whispered.

Catherine just nodded "I'd rather you'd never had to see me in that state, sweetheart…"

"Let me see this straight…" Jarod intervened "You bet your daughter's mother, forcing her to go to the hospital with multiple fractures…just because she had found out about the identity of her child's father?"

Raines grimaced "I don't expect you to understand…" he stated, stinging.

"No, indeed" Miss Parker replied "We'll never understand your twisted and sadistic psyche at all…"

"A man who touches a woman even with a finger doesn't deserve to live…" Jarod remarked. Unwillingly, his gaze fell on Lyle, so as his twin sister's.

Catherine took word again, talking with Mr. Parker "I ignored it for a year…you seemed to really care about our daughter…"

"I've always loved her more than anything else in the whole world!" he shouted in answer.

"That's a strange way to show the love for a daughter" Margaret answered "Erasing her mind to make her forget the only beautiful thing happened to her after her mother's disappearance, her friendship with Jarod…"

The two of them shared again a look.

Hasani, instead, was listening to every word with attention and disbelief. So everything Jarod had said was true: Mr. Parker had lied for years. Matumbo before, then Adama, and at last…himself.

"I'm just sorry…that I trusted Raines when I should have followed my instinct and disappear with Margaret. Forgive me, my children, I would have spared you so much pain…"

"It's okay, Mom. The important thing is that we're together, now…" Ethan answered.

"We'll be together, Mom…Ethan is the only brother I really care about…"

Catherine held Michael a bit more while she gave Lyle a disappointed and sad look. She was saddened in realizing what her son had become in her absence.

"What do you want, _Mummy_? Not everyone had the luck to have a friend like _Saint Jarod_, as a child…"

Jarod felt Sydney mumbled again behind him.

"So, what are you going to do, Hasani?" he spoke again. Time was running out, Sydney became unconscious in that moment. Angelo seemed terrorized and so was Broots.

"I don't think he can hold on any longer!" the technician said.

Jarod approached the African "You can still do the right thing…there was no escape for your brother, but you can still honor his memory…Adama would have ended the Centre, he would have taken the Scrolls back to Africa and then he would have taken all the powers from Mr. Parker…The Centre would have disappeared for good. That's why he had to die…"

Hasani started to shake his head "Stop it…"

"…so they could continue with this terror…"

"Stop it…"

"…so they could carry on their experiments, their crimes…"

"Enough!" the African shouted, silencing Jarod once and for all. The pretender obeyed and stopped talking, he was almost breathless for the speed of his speech.

"The only thing I want…" Hasani whispered "is vengeance…"

"That's not going to give you your brother's back…"

"We agree about something, Miss Parker…"

She looked at Jarod, making him understand that she had learned from her mistakes. In that moment, he felt very proud. She really had grown, and certainly her willing of revenge after Thomas's death had exhausted her to the point she had understood she couldn't live in rage forever.

Hasani sighed "Now…I'm going to do what I should have done a long time ago…I'm sorry, Jarod."

Jarod and Parker closed their eyes while a shot sailed the air.

* * *

**Reviews would be much appreciated. **

**And remember that my mistakes and errors and typos and so on are all caused by my "not-being-American" :)**


	18. Chapter 18: Déjà vu

**DISCLAIMER**

This is a chapter of death. Well, actually, lots of deaths.

But when you'll get through it, maybe you'll find out it was worth it.

No more spoiler.

* * *

**Chapter 18: Déjà Vu**

Hasani shot. Jarod kept his eyes sealed, but realized at once that he didn't feel any harm. He hadn't even felt the bullet inside him. When he raised his eyelids, he realized Hasani had deliberately hit somebody else.

In front of him, Raines had a hand at his chest and was covering the hole that Hasani had caused through it. He resisted a few seconds, then he raised his eyes to heaven and fell down. The bullet had struck straight through his heart. He was dead.

Everything happened fast and in total chaos.

A second after Raines touching the floor, Lyle took the gun and aimed it against Hasani's men. Jarod shouted his father to look for a repair, while The Centre sweepers shoot the ones against the others. The three Africans and the four men of Lyle's started a shooting that saw them in opposition for the first time in that absurd afternoon. All of them look for repair behind the columns, the doors, the tables. Bullets were flying everywhere. Jarod grabbed Parker and tried to walk away from the chaos of the weapons, then he threw her on the floor behind a wall, covering her with his body and admonishing Angelo and Broots to go for cover too. Broots looked at the empathic and they dragged Sydney far, so the three of them ended up inside an air duct. Major Charles, Ethan, Jesse and their mothers, instead, were getting away in the same direction they had arrived from, without being involved in the shooting.

"They opened fire!" Agent Braff shouted.

"To all men, move!" Zane shouted in her earphone.

So said, all the agents tumbled inside the corridor and started to aim their guns towards the sweepers. Some of Zane's men recognized Jarod and reached him "Agent Morse!"

"Down there there's an injured man, you must take him to the hospital or he's going to bleed to death!" Jarod shouted, trying to speak over the sound of the shots and pointing at the cubicle where Broots and Angelo were hidden.

The agent didn't waste time: he called a colleague and they went looking for Sydney together, to take him out of that mess. Jarod observed them while they reached the three men, then sighed in relief when he realized that Sydney was in good hands and that none of them had been hit.

Parker was holding her womb in total anxiety, without caring at all about her harmed shoulder. She was worried just for the safety of her daughter.

Through the general chaos, the three African sweepers and three of Lyle's men fell down. Mr. Parker was hiding behind a column, covered by Lyle's fire. Hasani was the first one to be reached by Zane's agents and to be handcuffed. The woman recognized him as one of the members of the African section of The Centre and was glad for capturing him _alive_.

Jarod leaned over to observe the scene of that atypical _Mexican standoff_: hidden inside a room there were Margaret, Major Charles, Ethan and Catherine, still holding little Michael, who was screaming more and more. He was probably terrified. Jesse, instead, was hidden behind a column not far from Lyle and Mr. Parker. On the other side, Zane and her men had ceased fire, mostly because by now there were just Lyle and Mr. Parker who were facing them. Lyle took a look at his father and gave him a gun. They couldn't afford being captured, or that would have really been the end.

Lyle stared around him while Agent Zane noticed him to surrender. Then he ran towards Jesse and took him by surprise, by dragging him against himself and aiming his weapon to his head.

"Let him go, Lyle!" Zane snapped at him. She felt like she had always known all those men, even if she had never seen them before. Their reputation preceded them, and Jarod had given her some horrifying information about Lyle. If even half of it was true, they didn't have to underestimate his madness.

"Jesse!" Miss Parker screamed, standing up and running towards her brother.

The room suddenly became quiet. Jarod took a weapon from the floor and approached the woman, who was already aiming a gun against Lyle and Mr. Parker.

"Let him go, Lyle" Jarod said "This is a matter between the two of us, he has nothing to do with it!"

"Oh, but he is you…and you are him…so the thing is about both of you…" he answered, with a fanatic look in his eyes.

"Lyle, it's over, just give up!" Parker pleaded him. It was stronger than her: when she looked at Jesse, she could still see the young Jarod she had abandoned. Memories from their childhood passed through her mind as she realized that she couldn't let them hurt him again. She loved Jesse as much as she had loved Jarod when he was a kid. And she had to help him, at any cost, if she wanted to silence her guilt.

This was her absolution.

"Take me!" Parker lashed out, taking everyone by surprise.

"Parker!" Jarod shouted.

"Miss Parker, don't!" Jesse screamed.

The woman didn't wait a second more and she moved towards Lyle, with long and heavy steps. Then she threw her gun down and widened her arms in surrender "Take me instead…"

"Parker, come back here, now!" Jarod lashed out, mentioning a move towards Lyle, but when he saw him tightening the grip around Jesse's neck he had to stop. Jarod noticed Jesse's frightened expression: even if he behaved like a man, he was just an innocent boy.

He tried to give him an encouragement look, but he couldn't help remembering when he was the one to have that look on his face when, younger, he was still a victim of The Centre. Something inside him died, in that moment.

Lyle licked his lips, tasting that choice he had been asked to make: he could have the thing he had always dreamed of, his sister at his mercy. And most of all, by choosing her, he would dealt a serious blow to Jarod. He would never fight him, if this meant to put Miss Parker and their little bastard's life in danger.

Lyle tightened the grip on the weapon he had stolen his sister a few moments before, he truly wanted to shoot young Jesse. After all, if he couldn't kill Jarod, he could at least get revenge towards his _copy_. But he changed his mind when he saw Parker approaching him more. Then he threw Jesse far from himself and took his sister between his arms, tightening his arms around her as he had done when they were in Dry River, in Arizona. Jesse, instead, took the opportunity to run and join Ethan.

"Damn it, Parker!" Jarod shouted, snorting and tightening the grip on his gun, aiming it with the longing desire to use it against Lyle.

"Well…now we're going to have a nice trip…it's gonna be only me, daddy, and my lovely sister…a nice family reunion…Mummy, would like to join us?" Lyle snapped at her, starting to going back.

"Son, please…do the right thing!" Catherine screamed, reappearing from the room she was hiding into.

Michael was now in Margaret's arms, she was trying to cheer him up and make him stop crying.

Not even his own mother's voice dissuaded Lyle from being the man he had become. It seems that there was no room left for his conscience, inside him.

"What do we do, agent Zane?" a couple of her agents asked.

"Put your guns down, or I swear I'm going to place a bullet inside my twin sister's wonderful skull…"

While the agents started to put their guns to the floor, by following Zane's automatic action, Jarod made a step forward, without even mentioning to lower his arm.

"What do you wanna do, Lyle?" his father asked him "How could we possibly leave? For heaven's sake!"

"Shut up, dad…we can still make it…it's sufficient to have the right thing to bargain with, am I right Jarod?"

"What the hell do you want, Lyle?" he snapped at him in answer.

Parker was strangely silent and submissive, as no one of the present persons had ever seen her.

"I want to see what happens when I kill someone important to your world, Jarod…" he said, with hatred.

Jarod opened his eyes wide and heard in his mind the words Alex had said long time before.

_I want to see what happens when I kill someone important to your world!_

Then it was true.

Lyle had been the one to increase Alex's madness: they had called him in Africa to train the pretender, but Lyle hadn't been able because Alex was too unstable. And yet, he had left a mark and had turned him into a sociopath. Just as Raines had done with him.

"It's not too late to repent, Lyle!" Jarod said "You're the product of a sick mind, Raines made you become what you would have never been, should have you been grown by Catherine…"

Mr. Parker started to look at them in fear. He had never seen his whole family reunited in the same room. His wife, his daughter and his son were all there with him. Of course, the children had arisen from his brother's semen, but Catherine was right about one thing: he had always loved his daughter. He had lied to protect her, to keep her by his side, he had manipulated her and betrayed her more than once. But he truly loved her. He couldn't accept the idea of something happening to her for her brother's fault, he was a son he had found much later and he had had to cover his misdeeds to protect him from the law many times.

"You speak as if I had a conscience, but you should know, by now…that I don't have one…" Lyle replied, keeping going back, until he reached the SL-19 elevators area. The others were following them, and pushing them against the wall. The elevator doors were already open, and Lyle knew that once inside he would be almost safe.

"Jarod is right, Lyle…it's over!" Mr. Parker said, trying to calm him down.

"And you've always loved her more than me, hadn't you, daddy? You let Raines take me away as soon as I was born!"

"He made me believe you were dead! He revealed me the truth just many years later…"

"We didn't know you were alive, son!" Catherine echoed him, for once finding herself in agreement with the man who was still her husband in all respects.

"That wasn't much of a loss…" Parker stated, sarcastically.

"Stop it, Parker!" Jarod silenced her, afraid for her own safety "Lyle…I'm doing whatever you want…but please, let her go…"

Lyle smiled, pleased. Jarod was begging him.

"No, Jarod…if she dies, you loose…and I win!"

Mr. Parker still had his gun. He thought about his wife, disappeared years before to hide from him. He thought about his brother, been kept hidden by his own parents and that had been killed by Hasani's shot.

He thought about his daughter, at the mercy of his son's hereditary madness. Inside Lyle's eyes he could see the same insanity sparks that had filled The Centre founder's, his grandfather's eyes.

And that was how he was going to the end up? Just then, at the end, he was realizing that all the important persons of his life were gone. They had all abandoned him, he was alone. Alone with his own demons and sins, for which he would have to ask for forgiveness.

"The upper levels are surrounded Lyle…you can't run…" Zane intervened.

Lyle giggled and decided that was the moment to move.

"Well…then my sister and I are going to bow out with style…"

Parker opened her eyes wide, it was the first time in her life she was terrorized of dying before the time.

"That's a pity" he continued "I would have been a great uncle…"

Parker took the opportunity to pull out her claws, as she had already done once with Lyle. She took his distraction and gave him a nudge on his chest, then started to run towards Jarod.

A second later, Lyle rose his weapon again and shot a bullet towards them both, in willing of hitting the woman once and for all. Mr. Parker, instead, lifted his arm and did the same thing, but against his son.

Lyle's bullet lashed the air.

Jarod came between the woman and the shot that had inevitably come from her own gun. One moment later, he had fallen at her feet.

"Jarod!" Parker shouted, bending right next to him.

"Lyle!" Mr. Parker snapped at him, while shooting at his son. He hit his shoulder.

Zane took advantage of that moment to run towards the crazy man, together with another agent, but she didn't make it in time because Lyle shot another bullet, this time against his father.

"James!" Catherine shouted, feeling powerless in front of that terrible scene that was showing her relatives shooting one another. The woman ran towards her husband. Miss Parker, instead, had eyes only for the man lying next to her.

"P-parker…" Jarod whispered. The woman noticed at once that the bullet had hit his back and had punctured one of his lungs.

Lyle looked at her in hatred, while Zane was reaching him and forcing him to stand up, to cuff him.

Miss Parker reciprocated Lyle's look full or resentment. She didn't wait.

While she looked at the grievous man whom Jarod had always warned her against, she took the gun that had fallen from Jarod's hands, she lifted her arm and she shot Lyle precisely to hit his heart.

Her brother fell even before Zane could do anything to intervene.

Lyle was dead.

"Jarod!" Major Charles shouted in relief that he could finally run towards his son and check his wound, and soon he was reached by Ethan, Margaret and Jesse, who had remained aloof until then.

"M-mum…" he whispered. His eyes betrayed once again the huge emotion he was feeling. Even if this time he was afraid he wouldn't have time to tell her what he had been wishing to for years.

"I'm here, son…" she said, by taking his hand and kissing it "I'm here…we're together, finally!"

"I would have wanted to say…many things…" he whispered, his blood flooding from his wound.

"You'll tell her everything, Jarod…hold on, they're coming soon…" Ethan interrupted him, even if he seemed not so sure of what he was saying to his brother.

"Y-you were amazing, little brother." he said to Ethan. He nodded, sighing in tension.

Jesse, instead, was crying, even if he tried to hide it.

"I t-told you once…" Jarod reassured him "It's okay to cry…"

Jesse nodded, sniffing.

"Even if…it makes you look like a girl!" Jarod sneered at him, trying to smile. For a moment, he had been afraid of living again what had happened years before when Kyle had died. Instead, it was over, they were all safe. Mostly Parker.

"E-Ethan…take care of her and the babies, ok?" Jarod said, coughing.

"Stop saying nonsense, ok?" Miss Parker snapped at him "You won't die, understand me? Don't you dare die on me now that you managed to blow up this damned place, are we clear?"

"Doctors are on their way!" Zane screamed, at the telephone with the medical squad.

In that moment, Broots and Angelo reappeared behind them: now that everything was quiet, the agents had let them come back to SL-19 to assist their friends.

Broots sighed in relief when he saw Miss Parker was fine; nonetheless, that relief became anguish when he realized that Jarod was lying at the floor in a pool of blood and, not far from him, Mr. Parker was almost dying.

"Jarod!" Broots shouted.

"Jarod…pain!" Angelo whispered, bending next to his friend.

"Broots…H-how is Sydney?" Jarod asked him.

"He's on his way to the hospital…he woke up and keeps asking about you…he's gonna be fine, Jarod." Broots explained him. It was Parker's turn to sigh in relief.

"W-well…dad, call Emily…she must be g-getting crazy at home, alone…" he coughed again.

"Would you stop talking? Think about yourself, once in a lifetime!" Parker lashed out.

Jarod tried to smile "You know, P-parker…I hope our daughter has…your strong character…and your smile…and most of all…your…eyes…" so said, he half-closed his eyelids.

Now the woman was in tears "Jarod…"

"Jarod!" Major Charles shouted.

"Jarod!" Miss Parker screamed.

But it was useless to call him, he had lost his consciousness. In that moment, the doctors entered the room by dragging a stretcher. In a few moments they made the man lie and took him outside, with the major part of the family following.

Parker, instead, stayed behind, unable to move or make a step more. When her tears finally stopped streaming down, Parker realized that her mother and father were still behind her, so she approached them. Catherine was holding his husband hand, for he seemed to have a few moments of life. The doctor next to them shook his head.

"Dad, we can take you to the hospital!" she said.

"No!" he replied "It's supposed to be that way, leave me here…"

"Oh, James…" Catherine mumbled, trying to be indifferent in front of her husband's death, even if she was seeing him for the first time after years of jeopardy.

"Dad…" Parker said "…why did you do that?"

"I d-didn't want to leave t-this world…before having your forgiveness…I'm sorry Catherine…I should have been…a better husband…"

The woman sighed. She had dreamed of hearing those words from that man hundreds of times. She had prayed for him, she had hoped that one day, eventually, he would repent. But she didn't think, anyway, that would have happened on his deathbed.

"I forgive you, James…you saved our Charlotte…"

"Our Angel…forgive me if you can, s-sweetheart…"

Miss Parker couldn't say anything. She didn't actually feel like to forgive that man, she didn't want to give him the satisfaction to know that, in the end, she was grateful because he had showed her some affection, at least in his last seconds of life.

While he exhaled his last breath, Parker bended and gave him a kiss. When she saw him letting his strength go, she looked at her mother with intensity.

The doctor touched his wrist and announced "He's gone."

Then the two women held each other, while Catherine stroked her daughter's hair like she used to do when she was a little girl. Parker started to sob, without stopping to ponder about what had just happened.

"You can't imagine…how much I missed you…M-mom…" she whispered, through a sob and the other.

"I missed you too, honey…but I promise you, we're making up for lost time…we're putting these thirty years of sufferance behind, I swear…"

Parker nodded, without raising her head from her mother's lovely and tender hold. She had so many things to tell ask her, thousands of questions that needed answers.

Her father was dead, now her mother was all she had to find that inner peace that would give an answer to all the doubts that had gnawed her for a lifetime.

And yet, even if she knew that Catherine was right there, in front of her, Parker couldn't feel happy.

Jarod was dying. She could hardly imagine her life without him.

Fate was playing a bad joke on them: now that they had finally found each other, it seemed that they were destined to be departed, maybe forever. The two women stood in that hold for a couple of minutes, and nobody around them tried to separate them.

Andrea Zane was the one who interrupted that intense and marvelous moment, when she approached Miss Parker to say "We're heading to the hospital, we may accompany you there…"

Parker lifted from her mother's lovely hold "Thank you, Agent Zane. Thanks for everything…Jarod would have never made it without you, today."

"We're the ones that must thank him. It's just because of Jarod if today we have put an end to The Centre power. The building was turned inside out like a sock, all the men who were directly involved with the "pretender" project are dead or under arrest. Our colleagues in Africa had reported that the mission against the Triumvirate fortress was as much successful…It seems that all the senior members of the Triumvirate surrendered without resistance, in hope that they might have a lighter punishment for their cooperation…"

Parker seemed incredulous. She didn't know that NSA and other American agencies wanted to attack The Centre in Africa too.

Zane smiled "This was my icing on the cake for Jarod…"

"He would have enjoyed it, doubtless…" Parker replied, realizing that she was already using the past to talk about him. God, why didn't the voices guide her and tell her that everything would be just fine?

"He'll be glad to know this, when he wakes up." Catherine corrected her.

Parker watched a group of agents taking away Raines and Lyle's corpses. Her mother, instead, seemed tired and hurt. How could she make her understand what Lyle had become, how Raines had plagiarized him, so creating his lethal and twisted mind?

"He's never been my brother…" she explained Catherine "…the only thing I ever learned at The Centre in these years, the most important thing Jarod taught me is…that it's not blood that bonds people with love…"

"I know, sweetie. Lyle has never even been my son…and this is why he ended up like that…" Catherine concluded "If only had I been a mother to him, as I was for you in you childhood…"

"It wasn't your fault, Mom…" Parker cheered her up.

While a huge sadness took possession of the two women, only survivors of the Parker family, Catherine addressed herself to Agent Zane, who was looking at the scene with an expression betraying all her resentment.

"I would have wanted them to arrive at the process…they could have confessed everything we wanted to know about this place…" Zane commented.

"We're taking care of it, agent" Catherine cheered her up.

Noticing Zane's worried look at Lyle's dead body, Miss Parker felt the need to justify her actions "Lyle deserved it…if Jarod doesn't make it, this will be the only satisfaction I had."

Zane pretended she hadn't heard her. To save those persons' lives, she should be quiet about many things, with the department. And yet, strangely, that thing didn't bother her at all.

* * *

**If you're still reading and you enjoy this story, just let me know ;)**


	19. Chapter 19: Family Grief

**DISCLAIMER**

Previously, on Mind Rain.

Jarod was shot by Lyle and he's now in a coma. Catherine is still alive and is finally reunited with her daughter.

Mr. Parker died and so did Lyle.

The real question is: is Jarod going to make it?

Thanks so much to **LadyOliviaRoxton**, **Debra** & **Nancy** for the reviews.

* * *

**Chapter 19: Family Grief**

**KENT GENERAL HOSPITAL - DOVER**

**7.17 p.m.**

Sydney was sitting on a wheelchair and Broots was taking him to the room where he would finally meet the other Centre _survivors_. He had mainly two wishes in that moment: the first was to hold Miss Parker, the second to see Jarod.

While his condition had stabilized as soon as the doctors had stopped the hemorrhage and made a blood transfusion, Jarod's one had crashed down rapidly. When Broots had reveled him that the boy he had grown as a son was in a coma, it had been a hard blow.

First Angelo, who had tried to save his life, now Jarod, who had destroyed The Centre and freed them from the madness that had kept them prisoners for decades.

Michelle and Nicholas had arrived as soon as Miss Parker had contacted them. The woman had proved to be interested in staying with Sydney for all the necessary time for him to heal, so as his son. The acknowledgment of being finally free from the threaten of The Centre had made Michelle understand that she wanted to visit Sydney much more, if he was still interested in spending some quality time with her. The man couldn't help but being glad of that request, in the hope that Nicholas too would like to spend some time with him, now that he wouldn't need to be afraid of The Centre sweepers' presence.

Broots had called Debbie at once and had invited her mother to make her come back home. Needless to say, the woman had been very happy to get rid of her daughter, that would be escorted by FBI to Blue Cove.

Broots was still incredulous. For the first time in his life he was facing the eventuality of not having a purpose anymore. For years, his only objective had been to second The Centre and Miss Parker's requests during the pursuit of Jarod. What would he do now? Could he adapt himself to a _normal_ life?

While both of them were pondering, they reached the hospital corridor where Jarod's room was. All the persons who cared for him were there, in that moment.

Agent Zane had managed to postpone their depositions, in hope that Jarod would wake up. So Major Charles had reached Emily to the airport and taken her to the hospital, while Parker and Catherine had rejoined Ethan. Jesse stood by himself, still too much shocked for what had happened a few hours before. Angelo, instead, seemed calm and peaceful, as he had never been before in his life. As if, with the end of the Centre nightmare, even his mind had finally been freed by a veil of terror that had enveloped him since Timmy had disappeared to leave _Angelo_ his place.

Margaret sat beside Jarod, and held his hand. In spite of her presence, the pretender hadn't given signs of recovery and the doctors weren't very positive about chances of eventual awakening.

They had been strict about his therapy: they couldn't enter the room more than one at a time, and just for a few minutes. So all of them hap spent time with Jarod in turn, talking about whatever they had in mind. The only person who hadn't had the courage to enter his room was actually Miss Parker.

The woman had been obliged to have a depth check up, to evaluate her condition and check that all those events hadn't created any problems with her pregnancy.

When the doctor confirmed that the baby was fine, she felt relieved from a lump.

As soon as she saw Sydney and Broots turning around the corner, the woman excused herself with the others and ran towards the two colleagues. First she hugged Broots, shocking him with that sudden demonstration of affection. Never in life would he expect such consideration from that woman.

"Debbie?" she asked him.

"In flight…she's arriving tonight…" he explained her, venturing a smile.

"Fine…" she whispered.

Then her gaze fell on Sydney, sat on that wheelchair, but back to his normal color and definitely much more lively than the last time she had seen him a few hours before.

"Parker…" Sydney murmured.

She squeezed his hand as hard as she could and bended above him to look in his eyes. Just in his eyes she could sight that huge abyss that was growing even inside herself.

Jarod was surrounded by his family: his father, his mother, his "adoptive" brothers, his sister. And yet, they were the two persons who were bounded to him the most, the only ones who truly understand him, the only ones that knew who he really was and what he had done in his astonishing and adventurous life. They both felt that Jarod needed them, but didn't know what to do for him, they felt powerless and useless in front of the destiny ineffability.

"It wasn't your fault…" the woman acknowledged.

Sydney smiled "It wasn't neither yours, Parker…"

Miss Parker smiled too, realizing that, as always, they both needed just a look to understand each other immediately.

"Have your heard about Lyle and my father?" she demanded.

"Broots told me…I must say I wasn't very upset for their untimely demise…"

"Yeah…me too." she agreed.

"How is he?" he asked then, touching a nerve.

Parker huffed, taking her look back to the others "Stable, comatose…his condition is worse than Angelo's was, doctors don't talk and seem little confident…"

While a tear streamed down that brave woman's beautiful face, Sydney made her feel his hold on her hand "He's gonna make it, we must have faith…"

Parker sniffed and nodded "I know…"

Sydney took his free hand to Parker's belly and touched it delicately "You have to be strong, for him…"

Parker smiled, finding that fleeting touch very comforting. Her daughter would love to call Sydney _Grandpa_.

"Where is Michael?" Broots asked her.

"He's upstairs, at the nursery…I don't want his first memories about his father to be connected to The Centre and an hospital bed…"

"What do doctors say?" Sydney demanded.

"He's going to remember almost nothing about these months, he's too young…nonetheless, they realized how smart he is when they took him and heard him saying that his two grandfathers are both dead, while his third one had a wound to his leg…"

Sydney chuckled "I wonder what was the doctor's face!"

Parker's smile widened to a laugh that served her to lower her tension.

"D'you want to see him?" she asked him when they both were serious again.

Sydney nodded.

* * *

The psychiatrist heard the door of Jarod's room closing behind him, in front of himself he noticed the bed where his beloved pretender was sleeping soundly.

Sydney observed Margaret while she held her son's hand, crying silently.

"Oh, Sydney…" she stuttered, noticing his arrival just after a few minutes.

"I may come back later…" he answered.

"No, please, stay…" Margaret pleaded him. Sydney nodded and reached the bed.

"He seems so…helpless…he reminds me of when he was a kid…" Sydney explained, smiling and glancing sideways at Margaret. The woman huffed.

"Maybe I won't have another chance to say this to you…so I prefer to do it now, that you're both here…"

Margaret looked up, giving him her attention.

"It's very unfair that I spent so much time with Jarod, while you and Phillip weren't able to grow him as his real parents…"

"Sydney, don't – "

"No, let me finish…"

Margaret nodded.

"He was an extremely intelligent and sensible boy, he asked about you almost everyday. Soon The Centre lied to me, and made me believe that you were both dead in a flight crash. I didn't want to see the truth, even if my brother Jacob tried to convince me that there was something deeply wrong, in The Centre actions. And yet, for years I've been blind and obedient, I've never asked the right questions."

"Jarod had enough luck…to be assigned to such a serious and gentle man, who grew him in his own image and likeness, and helped him to distinguish good from evil."

Sydney stared at her, with curiosity.

"Phillip told me everything about your relationship, Sydney. Circumstances created this weird situation, in which Jarod sees a paternal figure in you, the one that always guided and advised him. Between him and Jarod there will never be such confidence, the one that has been established between you two…"

Sydney half-closed his eyes and remembered a conversation he had with Jarod little more than a year before. His boy was at a difficult stage within his relationship towards him, because he had just found out about the experiments with drugs that Raines had tested on him.

…

_Jarod dialed the number at the phone box and waited for his mentor to answer on the other side._

_He wasn't sure he would find him still in the office, but he had at least to try: he needed to talk with him._

"_Sydney." he answered, knowing perfectly that it could only be Jarod, so late in the evening._

"_I didn't think you'd still be working…" Jarod muttered. _

"_Good of you to call. I was getting really worried…" the psychiatrist explained._

_Jarod was very upset and let his resentment surface immediately "Because you thought I might have slipped back into my childhood drug addiction? Just tell me why. Why did you let them do that to me?"_

_Sydney didn't know where to start "Jarod – "_

"_You're the only person that I trusted. You were like a…"_

_To pronounce the word "father" would have been too much painful, in that moment. And yet, Jarod felt his heart broken into pieces, because he was sure that even Sydney, among all, had betrayed him and let him in Raine's clutches, as a lab rat to experiment his drugs on. _

"_You should have stopped them, Sydney!" Jarod had a huge lump in his throat, that made tears appear in his eyes. The overgrown and scared child that still was inside him took over, in that moment. _

"_Jarod, I couldn't…" Sydney explained._

"_Why not?" the other demanded, incredulous and upset._

"_Because" now it was Sydney's turn to get angry "I was a test subject myself!"_

_Jarod stood in silence for a few seconds "What are you talking about?"_

_Sydney sighed "I asked Raines, rather, I demanded…that you be left out of the drug testing and that they use me instead, and Raines agreed. It was only when I came out of detox that I realized what had happened, that he'd lied."_

_Jarod couldn't believe his ears. So it didn't happened the way he thought. Sydney hadn't really abandoned him…_

"_So you sacrificed yourself to protect me…" he stuttered._

_Sydney shook his head, he would have never wanted to be obliged to reveal Jarod that detail from their past. The pretender, on the other hand, was touched, his lump getting more and more oppressive. _

"_Why didn't you ever tell me that?" Jarod asked him, sure that many things would have been different, had he found the courage to tell him that secret before. _

"_I never wanted you to feel obligated to stay here at the Centre, if you had a chance to get away. I'm sorry, Jarod. I'm really sorry."_

_So said, he hung up, maybe for the first time in his life he was the one ho interrupted the communication._

_Jarod would have loved to say many other things. He wanted to confess how much he loved him, how much he appreciated that paternal side that he never ever showed while they were at The Centre, in fear that they would hurt him. Instead, as usual, he found himself alone and dejected._

…

"We're glad that he had you, Sydney" Margaret continued "Kyle wasn't so lucky. My poor son…" Margaret stuttered, thinking again about the boy she had never even had the occasion to hold.

"Jarod once told me" Syd explained her "that Kyle repented for what he had become, and didn't want you to know what Raines and turned him into. Eventually, he also found his purpose, and his heart saved somebody else's life…"

"I know…" Margaret replied, almost smiling "…and I'm very proud of him. But now…I can't stand the idea of loosing another son before having the chance of know him! This isn't fair…"

Sydney looked at Jarod, lying in his bed, unaware of what was happening around him.

"You're right Margaret…it isn't fair…" Sydney concluded, approaching the woman and grabbing her hand.

* * *

When the Major arrived back at the hospital with Emily a few hours later, the girl had the chance to talk for the first time with the woman that, in other circumstances, would have been glad to call her sister in law.

Emily, at the beginning, tried to keep her distance from that _femme fatale_ that Miss Parker was. She sat next to Jesse, the brother she had the deepest relationship with, and asked him how he was.

It didn't take long before he told her how Parker had risked her own life to save his, of how she had offered herself to Lyle to protect him. In that moment, Emily started to realize that maybe Jarod and her mother were right about her. She was a special woman.

While Parker watched the man she loved behind the door glass, Emily approached her in silence. The others were all around in the hospital, somebody at the machines, having a coffee, somebody walking to stretch their legs, somebody, such as Broots, going to fetch his daughter.

So Emily and Parker were practically alone, ready to talk freely and openly.

"Jesse told me what you did for him…thank you for saving him. I reckon it was difficult to stand up against your own brother…"

Parker grimaced "Lyle was just a mad psychopath. You should know, seen that he tried to kill you once."

"I thought you were twins – "

"Just because we came from the same maternal uterus, it doesn't mean that we have anything in common. I've never had a relationship with him, the day Jarod told me that Lyle could really be my twin brother was one of the most terrible of my life."

…

"_I've narrowed your brother's identity down to these two files…"_

_Jarod was showing the red files to Miss Parker, who had found Angelo and him with little Davey Simpkins, still at the mercy of the tortures afflicted to him by Raines._

_Parker tingled of curiosity, but at the same time she was afraid to know. Among those files, there was also Jarod's. This meant that he could actually be her brother?_

"_One of those belong to you?" she asked him, with anguish._

_Jarod contemplated for a moment the opportunity to lie, or to make her suffer to discover the truth. But he couldn't play on such an important factor for them both. All their childhood was based on a tender friendship that had even leaded to their first kiss. There were still too many buried feelings to clarify, feelings he couldn't give a precise collocation to, not yet._

_Parker, on the other hand, was worried. She looked at Jarod in anxiety, hoping not to hear him giving a positive answer to her question. Why was she hoping so? Because they had trained her to hate Jarod, to have as sole purpose of her life to capture him and bringing him back to The Centre, or because…she knew that deeply, inside her, she still felt strong feelings for him? Conflicting feelings, yes, but feelings. Passion, and, maybe, even desire. _

_Angelo observed the scene in silence, with his mind still clear and aware of what was going on._

_Jarod, eventually, smirked almost smug "No. I'm not your brother."_

_Parker sighed in relief. She couldn't show, but that was what she was feeling in that moment: an indescribable joy for having removed the doubt that she was indeed feeling something for her brother._

_Realizing that she was showing her weakness, she changed her face and came back to Ice Queen modality._

"_But one of these files does belong to him." Jarod continued, addressing a sign towards Angelo._

"_Him?" she demanded, surprised and almost incredulous._

"_And the other to a boy named Bobby. But you know him better as…Mr. Lyle."_

_This was too much, for Miss Parker too. She burst into laughter for the accumulated tension. Jarod, in that moment, realized how beautiful she was when she laughed. He hadn't seen her laughing for years, even if that was an expression of her discomfort, and not of her joy._

"_So you're telling me that my brother is either a psychotic killer or Mush Head?"_

"_It's unmistakable." Jarod concluded, ignoring her ironical comment about Angelo._

_Parker had her right hand tight on her gun, in the left she was still holding the red file given to her by Jarod. She felt she could pass out, for a moment "I need a drink" She whispered "A big one."_

…

Emily smirked after listening to Miss Parker's tale. And Parker thought that she really looked like Jarod, when she smiled. After all, she was his sister!

"I would have really preferred to discover that Angelo was my brother" she continued, looking at the empath that was talking with Ethan with calm and spontaneity, not far from them "Unfortunately I didn't…" she concluded, with a desolate sigh.

"Sure you've been through a lot together, Jarod and you…to be the one who was chasing him all around the States without ever catching him…you meet him many times."

"Most of which were settled by your… older genius brother…" she explained. Catherine and Margaret approached their daughters in that very moment.

"One time" Parker told them, smiling at the thought "…he dragged me inside a bank to allow me to meet Mr. Fenigor…we had been inside the building together for even five minutes, that two robbers took all of us as hostages…we got stuck there for hours!"

"But you also saved the day, or so Sydney told me…" Margaret intervened.

Parker continued her list "What about that hurricane in the middle of which we got together in Bahia Grande?"

Catherine smiled, guessing where her daughter was going with that.

"Well, there weren't surely just natural catastrophes when you two met…" Emily responded.

"I don't know, Em…" the girl really appreciated the abbreviation used by Miss Parker "…when we were on the Island of Carthis even the _devil's storm_ unleashed…"

Emily, Margaret and Catherine burst into laughter, which was absurd, seen the situation in which they were.

Parker sighed "It seemed that whenever we were together…an uproar had to spark, or an hurricane, or…an explosion!" she continued, thinking about SL-27.

Emily was becoming aware of the reason why her brother had fallen in love with that woman. She was strong, intelligent, charismatic and also funny. Beside that she was really bewitching. Any man would fall at her feet.

"Mum…" Parker talked on, changing the subject "Why did Fenigor tell Jarod and me that Major Charles was your killer, when it wasn't true?"

Catherine sighed "Fenigor didn't know that I'd faked my own death, I didn't tell almost anybody, but Raines. The only thing he saw was Phillip's weapon next to the elevator, he knew I was trying to save Jarod…he drew a hurried conclusion and he probably convinced himself that he had shot me…"

Parker grimaced "I believed him without thinking twice…and yet it was another Centre lie. Jarod tried to warn me, and yet I chased him…and I shot against him!"

…

"_Jarod!"_

_Parker was aiming her gun against him, she had chased him along the SL-27 corridors. In that moment, she felt a huge anger towards him, even if he didn't have anything to do with her mother's death._

"_Looks like another dead end!" he snarled at her, furious._

"_I know all I need to know." Parker responded, her hand tightened on her gun._

"_Do you? After all the deceit and all the betrayal we've both experienced how do you know what the truth is?"_

"_Fenigor had no reason to lie…" and she truly believed that._

_That man was dying, why should he need to waste his breath in lies? No, Jarod's father had been the very person who had murdered Catherine, maybe in an attempt to save his son._

"_Then you're going to have to shoot me, because I'm going to find out the truth!" Jarod challenged her._

…

"That was the only time I actually emptied a cartridge on him…"

Margaret and Emily looked at her a bit shocked, then she continued "I did it just because I could have never taken him, he was running and all my shots hit the walls and the sublevel grates…" she reassured them.

Catherine smiled. _Good, my girl_, she thought.

"For such a long time…I've been convinced that Phillip actually shot you. I wanted to revenge you!"

"But why blaming Jarod?" Emily asked her.

Parker smiled. How many things had she blame Jarod for, during the years spent in chasing him? She stretched beyond the women and looked once again over the door glass.

"Because he was my relief valve. Like a human punching bag in flesh and blood…Jarod always had the huge flaw of wanting to appeal all my anger against himself. He sent me stupid presents and puzzling clues, he put me on the trail of the truth, but at the same time he made me hate his mind games."

"Why do you think he did it?" Margaret questioned her, curious about that extravagant and weird side of her son.

"He did it to allow me to survive. Jarod knew that my job was to catch and return him here and that I would have never been free from The Centre, shouldn't I succeed."

"He also knew…" Sydney stepped-in at their backs "…that neither Parker nor I had the courage to drag him here. We had more than once chance to do it, but we never could!"

"And why did he allow you to survive by being hated by you?" Emily asked her, totally confused.

Sydney smirked. As a very good psychiatrist as he was, he had understood Jarod and Parker's intentions since the first day of that six-years-lasting odyssey.

"Should I have trusted my instinct, I would have stopped chasing him after a few months…with every discovery, I got farther from my father, and I realized what kind of man he actually was. Soon I wouldn't have been able to work in a place that had exploited brilliant minds in change of power and money for so many years."

"By pushing her to detest him" Sydney went on "Jarod saved her. He allowed her to keep on hunting him, by making her believe that the reason he was doing it was that she hated him to the point of wanting to bring him back to The Centre against his will. Her father and Raines were quiet, because she kept chasing him. And so she didn't run the risk of incurring in drastic measures by the Tower or the Triumvirate…"

"I'm getting a headache…" Emily muttered, not yet understanding that strange and twisted relationship among those three people.

Sydney smiled, glad to show his perfect psychiatric skill "Jarod's perfect plan failed just in one occasion…"

Parker sighed "Tommy…"

Catherine and Margaret looked at each other. None of them knew who they were talking about, and Emily didn't know much either. She had just overheard Jarod talking about that man with his father, once.

"Jarod had decided that if we couldn't be happy _together_…maybe he could give me another way of escape. He was the one who pushed Tommy to meet me, he put him on my way. We fell in love so easily…"

Sydney was revealed to realize that Parker could talk about Thomas Gates with such a serenity, she had never done that before.

"Tommy and I had decided to leave for Oregon" she explained, watching her mother, who nodded "But daddy made him killed so that I didn't leave The Centre. It was Brigitte, she killed him, she was daddy's…"

"Second wife, I know…"

Parker nodded, sighing. Even if time had passed, memories still hurt very much. Mostly her father's betrayal.

"Did you ever get evidence that he was the one who ordered Thomas's murder?" Emily asked her.

Parker giggled "I didn't need it…I've always known it was him. And Jarod helped me to expose him. Even in such a grievous moment, he stood by my side, as nobody else did…he made me discover who was responsible for his death!"

…

_Parker had just finished her toast above Thomas's grave, she put on her sunglasses and stood up, when she heard a familiar and unmistakable voice behind her._

"_Beautiful words…"_

_When she turned around, she saw Jarod in front of herself. He was wearing a long black coat and, as usual, black was the color he was characterized by. He had a bouquet that he wanted to place on the grave, but Parker was still mad at him for the little model he had prepared of her first meeting with Thomas. So she took him by the collar and pull him to herself with rage. _

"_What, no confetti gongs, joy buzzers, squirting flowers?!"_

"_None of this is a laughing matter…" he replied, his mood six feet under. He missed Thomas very much too, he had been a good friend._

"_Yeah. No, you really caught me in a mood today."_

_Parker pointed him and then took her gun out, aiming it straight to his chest, raging._

"_I'm real tempted to put a cap in you, wipe the slate clean on my life and take off without ever looking back!"_

_Jarod was disappointed and embittered by her reaction. At least in that moment he would like to share his pain with her, to help her to overcome it. But Parker never contradicted herself. So he gave her what she needed: a relief valve. Once again, he had to be the gear allowing her to go on, to survive. He had to make her hate him to allow her to keep surviving._

"_Your gun won't work." he challenged her, slightly amused._

_Parker took off her sunglasses, looking at him angrily._

"_I took the firing pin out last night..."_

_Parker sneered, with incredulity "I sleep with this under my pillow…"_

"_And you drool out of the left corner of your mouth…" he scoffed her, moving his finger right around his mouth._

_Parker lowered her gun and tried to shoot at the ground, realizing at once that Jarod was telling her the truth._

_As always, the genius was a step ahead. He had expected her reaction and so he had taken from her the only instrument she could threaten him with. But she wasn't in the mood for that either._

"_What the hell are you doing here, Jarod?!" she huffed, now very close to tears._

"_It's time to take care of some unfinished business…" Jarod explained, with rage, then he glanced at Tommy's grave "…to find out who killed the man you loved and why, and to pay respects to a man like Thomas Gates because he deserves it."_

_Jarod tried anew to place his flowers on the grave, but Parker stole them from him and, once again, she retorted him with a rage she wasn't actually feeling. Only she needed to pour out on someone, and Jarod was always her ideal target. She didn't hate him, but she had to treat him like the lab rat he was in her eyes._

"_Just because you're a genius doesn't mean you know what he deserves…"_

_Parker stopped, ready to start crying, depressed. Jarod, noticing her despair, felt like he was dying inside and understood that was the moment to disappear, if he didn't want to show her all his vulnerability. In that moment, the only thing he would love to do was to hug her and console her, but he knew she would never allow him to. She hated him, after all._

"_Why are you tormenting me, Jarod? Why do you even c…" _

_Parker turned around suddenly, waving the flowers bouquet in the air, but Jarod had already disappeared. She made a few steps "…care?"_

_As always, Jarod had vanished with a coup de theatre. And yet, he had left something behind: Tommy's business card, which reported the sentence "Rumor 58259". _

…

"Poor Jarod…he just wanted to help me getting over it, coming to terms with it…and I treated him so bad…" she explained to the presents.

"And what was difference from any other day?!" Sydney demanded, muffling tension and making all the women giggle, even Parker.

After a few seconds of silence, faces became again long and tense.

"Miss Parker…I still have one thing to ask you…" Margaret intervened, grabbing her hand.

"What?" she questioned.

"Why didn't you visit him yet?"

Parker sighed and, for the first time in hours, she started crying again, smiling while tears streamed down her face. Sydney put a hand on her back.

"Because it's only my fault if he's in there…"

By now, Parker was crying deeply. She couldn't help but seeing the moment Jarod got in the way between Lyle's gun and herself. He saved her life, but now he was dying, and all because of her.

Emily took her unprepared and held her as a sister would have done, crying along with her. Margaret looked at the scene, touched.

"Jarod needs to feel your presence, sweetheart…" Catherine cheered her up.

"Cat is right" Margaret agreed "I haven't known my son for long, but one thing I'm certain of: your and your children are the most important thing, to him…"

Parker touched her belly, thinking about how much happiness Jarod had felt when he had found out she was pregnant. She thought about Michael, entrusted to the care of the upstairs nurses.

"Syd…would you come with me?" she asked, in full desperation.

"Of course, Parker…" he answered, his eyes bright and almost going to cry.

* * *

**So sorry for all the typos, mistakes, errors, misprints, grammatical disasters. **

**But if you like the story, please let me know.**


	20. Chapter 20: Wake up

**DISCLAIMER**

This is gonna be a bit sappy, but…Hey, I couldn't just let him go, could I?

Sorry for the language, as usual.

And as usual thanks so much to **Nancy** for her reviews!

* * *

**Chapter 20: Wake Up**

When Parker entered Jarod's room, she noticed that for the first time in her life she would talk to him and have the last word.

Doctors hadn't deceived her: hadn't he woken up in the next hours, the situation would become uncertain and dangerous for the patient.

Parker couldn't stand watching that man who usually was full of strength, vigor and dynamism, lying in an hospital bed, unarmed.

"He seems so…defenseless…" she muttered towards Sydney.

"Yeah…"

Miss Parker walked beside his bed, next to the windows, and sat at the chair that was occupied by Margaret just a moments before. She took Jarod's left hand in hers and took it to her mouth, starting to wetting it with her tears.

"I can't, Syd.."

"You can…and you must, Parker…he needs us…we have to be the strong ones, for once. Think about what _he_ did for us during these last years…think about your children!"

"I'm never gonna make it without him, Sydney…I can't live without him!" she responded, angry with herself for what had happened and for her own fragility. How did she end up like this? A few days before she was an independent and unattached woman.

Sure, she also was futureless, but that was just a detail.

And now she was a mom-to-come, risking to become the most premature widow in all Blue Cove history.

Perhaps neither that one was the destiny she would have chosen for herself.

Sydney was absorbed in his thoughts, and he suddenly started to laugh. Parker looked up at him, uncomfortably. How could he possibly find that situation amusing?

"D'you remember the time that Jarod met Bartlett in Georgia? And we used Angelo's faculties to understand who wanted to kill him?"

"Yes…" she answered, angry. Whenever she listened to somebody speak about that animal Bartlett was, she didn't understand anymore the distinction between good and evil. Should she find him in front of herself, she'd probably kill him like a dog.

"I had guessed that you were hiding something…the way you lavish to save Jarod…I knew you didn't want Bartlett to hurt him…"

"It was just because I did want to catch him before he could!" she retorted, her _old huntress_ tone surfacing again, at times.

Sydney kept on giggling "Are you sure of that, Parker?"

The woman thought about those moments she had spent waiting for Angelo to find out what person from Jarod's past wanted to kill him.

…

"_Bartlett, Angelo! Is he the one who's going to kill Jarod?"_

_Angelo was at the floor and Sydney finally understood who was the man Angelo had been afraid of for a few hours, by then. The empathic dragged himself out from the net Jarod had built for Bartlett and approached Syd, nodding evidently. _

"_Bartlett! Must stop Bartlett. Bartlett hates Jarod, hates everyone!"_

_Sydney stared at him in apprehension._

"_Bartlett wants to kill—wants to kill Jarod! Sydney, help Jarod now!" Angelo lashed out._

_Syd didn't want to waste a second more "Parker, we have to do something!"_

_The woman, who still didn't want to show, was as anxious as the two._

"_Broots, call the Florida Bureau of Prisons, see if Bartlett is still in custody!"_

"_Okay" he answered, running outside the room to go and check._

_Parker then made a few steps towards Angelo and Sydney "Bartlett is a racist sleazebag who would kill his own mother."_

_Angelo, in the meantime, was exhausted by the pain he felt as assimilation for Jarod's emotions. Sydney stood up and listened to her._

"_Syd, we have to find him. If Bartlett finds Jarod first…he will kill him…"_

_Sydney looked suddenly at Parker, she was staring at him intensely. Her expression showed all her concern, in that moment. The psychiatrist, in fact, couldn't help but notice the irony of that situation. The most assiduous among Jarod's pursuers was afraid for his own safety and wanted to find him not to take him back to The Centre, but to save his life. Was she starting to realize, deep within of herself, what he had understood a long time before? That between them there weren't just mind games, but an intimate and ineradicable bond?_

_Parker knew she had to come back to her senses and put on the Ice Queen façade, so after a few seconds of embarrassment, she talked on "…and ruin my chance."_

_But Sydney didn't miss the way she pulled up her shoulders and she tried to disguise her fear, for he was the man who had seen her grow and he knew every attitude of hers._

"_Let's just pray we're not too late…" he concluded, finding a tacit inner agreement of Miss Parker. _

…

"Ok, I admit it…I spent many hours in my office that afternoon, pondering the first kiss Jarod and I ever shared and about what we had said to each other when Bartlett tied us together down in Bahia Grande…I was terribly worried, I was afraid I would loose him before I could understand…"

"Understand what?"

Parker smiled and kissed again Jarod's hand "Something I'd already known in my heart for long, but that I didn't want to admit…"

Sydney watched her while she stroke Jarod's forehead, he still didn't show any signs of recovery.

"That I've always loved him…"

Sydney smiled again. It was so good to listen to her talking so openly about her feelings for him.

"You know what he said to me, some time ago?"

Sydney shook his head, with curiosity.

"When we went down there to Pastor Jones' church to ask about him, we thought he had already left…and yet, he was still there, right under our nose. He was enjoying the sung Mass on the church roof!"

The psychiatrist couldn't resist and burst into laughter again "I can't believe that…"

Parker giggled too "I can almost imagine him, their _guardian angel_…literally! You do are crazy, Jarod…"

Their laughs faded, and Sydney understood that was the moment for him to leave. He patted Jarod once more and then he dragged his wheelchair outside the room, leaving her alone with him.

"Jarod…there are so many things…things I never told you, things I would have wanted to tell you, things I _should_ have said…"

The man, obviously, didn't show signs of life.

Parker sighed deeply, ready to talk once again "Jarod, d'you remember what you told me after Brigitte's death, that day I confided you that I've never told Tommy…that I loved him?"

…

"_I thought that getting revenge for Tommy's death would somehow bring me peace. But even if I had been able to, I know now it wouldn't have."_

_She didn't actually know why she was confiding in Jarod. Maybe because he was the only one who actually helped her discovering the truth about Thomas. The only one who was always with her during the most difficult moments of her life. Who knew why, then. She chased him everyday, she pursued him to bring him back to the terrible place he had run from. And yet, he still cared for her, he still saw her as his childhood friend to be protected from pain. Parker would never admitted it in front of him, but that constant presence of his in her life was fundamental. Jarod was her pillar, and after all that affair, she was realizing that more and more. _

"_That isn't the unfinished business that needs finishing." he replied to her, lost in the middle of a grove in total different place. He would have loved to be there with her, but he knew she had to face the pain on her own, that time. _

"_You said the other day that you wish you had told him…told him what?" he asked her, curious. _

"_I never…I never told Tommy that I loved him…" she finally confessed, glad to remove that weight from her consciousness to confide it someone. And not just any someone. To Jarod. _

"_And now your heart and your mind are raging a war against each other…"_

_That was the reason Parker loved to speak with him: because he understood her without even needing to explain things out loud. He knew her better than anyone else._

"_I would trade everything for one minute with him…Just to say those words and have him hear them."_

"_Tell him…" he concluded "Let your heart win the war."_

…

Parker squeezed his hand stronger.

"You were the one who taught me that we mustn't underestimate the importance of expressing our feelings for the persons we love…and now I realize I don't want to miss the opportunity with you too."

She sent him a languid look, almost in the hope that he would wake up that very moment.

"I've never been an easy person to deal with…since I was a child I didn't have any friends outside, nobody really got along with me. You were the only one who understood the real me, you knew that something had broken inside of me after my mother's alleged death…you stood by my side and donated me the most precious gift: our friendship."

Parker pondered for a second about all those times that, as kids, they had wandered across The Centre corridors and got into trouble. She remembered that time Sydney had found them playing hide and seek down in SL-12 corridors and have admonished them not to scare him like that anymore, because he had been looking for them for hours and Jarod needed to finish a simulation. _Good old Sydney_, she thought.

"It was all my father's fault if I've become…an hopeless bitch, trained with the sole purpose to plug The Centre security leaks. It was foregone that he charged me with your pursuit, he was so sure that _Mind Rain_ had been successful that he didn't even care about all the skeletons in the closet I would discover having to deal with you night and day."

Parker paused, pondering the words.

"I don't blame you for hating me…I don't blame you if you tried to forget me, I've made your life a living hell for so long…the more you tried to show me the truth, the more I tried to get some distance from you. I couldn't admit the truth to myself."

Parker stood up and placed Jarod's hand on the bed once again, then she looked out the window and turned her back to him.

"Sometimes I wonder what would have happened hadn't I come on Carthis…I guess you would give up, one day…you would understand I was a lost cause and you wouldn't have looked for me anymore. But we know what happened in reality…my surprise ending, the _turning point_ you had asked me…that night on the island I realized I still loved you. In fact, I've always had…and I'm sorry that I didn't figure it out sooner, Jarod, but I was a such a fool! I've been blind, irritating, cynic, arrogant…I must thank you for opening my eyes…thank you for your love…thank you for changing me…thank you for Michael and for Clio…I won't ever thank you enough, my love…for everything you've ever done for me."

Parker was still crying.

"D-did you actually c-called me..._my love_?"

Parker turned around at once, sure that she was dreaming. Jarod's eyes were open and he was looking at her, waiting for her reaction.

"Jarod! Oh my god! Doctor!" she shouted, pressing the warning button so that the acoustic signal started to resound wildly. Then she went outside.

"He's awake!" she screamed, calling or the relatives to order.

A real mass of people tumbled into the room, but Parker stood outside a moment more, decided to stay back and recovering from such a huge emotion. Doctors came together with nurses and they did a complete check-up on Jarod immediately, monitored his vital signs and almost calling it a miracle, seen the few chances he had to survive.

From the room, dozen of voices were crowding one another. Margaret was still holding her son's hands, next to her Major Charles and Catherine. Emily, Ethan and Jesse stood beside, on the other side of the bed, and they were looking at their brother, even if leaving the doctors' movements some room.

Broots and Debbie peeped from the corridor with Angelo in that very moment, noticing at once that something must have happened, if everybody had disappeared.

When the technician saw Parker weeping, he thought for a moment that Jarod was dead.

"I-is h-he…"

"He woke up, Broots!" Sydney explained, smiling to his lifetime friend.

Broots seemed overjoyed for the news, while Angelo started to spin, because he felt skin-deep all the positive emotions emanating from that room. Jarod was fine, he was awake. He was safe.

"May we?" Broots asked Parker.

"Of course, everybody's inside!" she agreed.

Sydney stood behind with his _girl_ and waited patiently the doctors' visits to come to an end. When one of them, visibly disappointed, snarled "That's enough, everybody out! We must check on the patient's condition! Just one of you can stay!"

Even if all of them complain for the doctor's order, they started to exit the room one by one, leaving Margaret inside. The woman, anyway, looked at her son while he asked her something, then she exited too and went towards Parker.

"He asked of you…" she whispered.

Touched, Miss Parker thanked her with a gaze full of affection, then stared at her mother "Would please go and fetch Michael? I'd love him to see his father, now…"

"Of course, sweetie." she answered.

Parker approached Jarod just as the doctor said "It's almost incredible, but it seems the worse part is over, Jarod…you do have a hard rind!"

Guessing the two knew each other, Parker noticed the relief in the doctor's eyes and heard Jarod replying "Thanks, Jeff."

"Let's give them some time, Rose…let's get out." he said, addressing himself to the last nurse still in the room.

Parker arrived at Jarod's side and bended so that she had her arms leaning on the bed and her face right next to his one, seen that the pretender was lying on his side, because they had just checked his wound at the back.

"How's Michael?" Jarod asked her.

Parker couldn't help but finding his altruism just irresistible. She shook her head slightly and kissed him with passion, even if this meant he would loose his breath for a while. She had missed those lips, that day. She had been afraid that she wouldn't have tasted them anymore.

"Did I miss something?" he questioned.

"My father's dead…and so is Lyle."

Jarod guessed at once that she had been the one who had killed his brother.

"How?"

"Let's just say he's not going to annoy us anymore, that's for sure…"

"Are you all right?"

Parker giggled "You were dying and you ask if _I_ am fine?"

"I'm not the one who's carrying a life in her womb, Parker…is the baby all right?"

She nodded, lifting a hand and caressing his face. He half-closed his eyes and enjoyed that soft and lovely touch.

"We'll have so much time to talk…now you need some rest, Jarod. I'm coming back later."

He opened his eyes suddenly "No! Stay…" he pleaded her.

She huffed "You really are a child! Are you sure you don't want your mummy?" she asked him, not too much sarcastically.

Jarod smiled and coughed "Before, I woke up in time to hear you saying that you've been blind, irritating, cynic, arrogant. You forgot ruthless!"

Parker burst into laughter "Ok, then ruthless too." she agreed, taking his hand and dragging the chair beside his bed, so that she could sit next to him. Then she bended again and rested her face close to his one, realizing their two different breathing could become one.

"We made it, Parker…"

"You made it…" she corrected him "…and for the first time in your life you won't have to look at your back, because nobody's going to hunt you anymore, Jarod."

"I was hoping that you would still." he admitted. Now that The Centre had fallen, who knew why, he was almost afraid he could loose her. As if their lives had already fulfilled their purpose. Just as the Prophecies revealed.

"I won't chase you anymore, Jarod…" she interrupted, while he stared at her, pondering "…because I won't have to stay a step behind you, in the hope of reaching you. From now on, we'll be together, we're walking the same way, _side by side_. The huntress and her prey."

Jarod smiled "This seems a perfect ending for a novel…"

Parker laughed again "Well, then I might start writing. I mean, I'm unemployed!"

"I'm sorry! I've never thought about that side of the coin. I must help you to find a new job, then!"

"I think The Centre ensured us a settlement that will relieved us from such a necessity, Jarod."

"Settlement?" he asked, not understanding what Parker was talking about. He didn't know that Broots had envisaged a little "payout" for all of them.

"Let's call it…a _compensation for punitive damages_…this will allow you to keep on helping the others as you've always done, if that's what you want."

"By now, the only person I want to help…it's me…I need a bit of balance in my life. I want to make up for lost time with my family…and with you. That's the only thing that matters to me, now!"

"Yeah" she agreed "And then…I guess the next nine months will be a new experience for you too. Guess how you must behave to second the pregnant _Ice Queen_ cravings…"

"I believe I have to keep a gun on hand for the difficult times." he replied, causing her to laugh again. Parker wondered how could he make her feel so…peaceful.

"And I'll have to renew my clothes." she concluded, kissing him again.

* * *

**Let me know what you think.  
**

**Oh, by the way...it's not over yet! :)**


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